When prohibitive content regulation fails

One of the most horrible images I have ever seen was that of a decapitated man. The picture, leaked to a Puerto Rican TV programme, was gruesome to say the least, but somehow it made it to a gossip show that airs at 6:00pm. There were no black bars, no pixelation; there was nothing more than a red stripe at the bottom of the screen that asked for discretion with children.

It was ridiculous. Any 10 year old who was channel surfing could have seen the picture, and the warning would certainly not have been enough. Any of the decapitated man's loved ones could have stumbled upon that channel, and seen was the picture, which is exactly what happened. 

How could this happen? How could one of the Island's most watched TV shows display such a photograph without thinking about the consequences or not caring about them? Something was lacking in this situation, and I think it was simply proper regulation.

One of the types of media regulation is societal regulation (Global Governance: A Beginners Guide, Siochru & Girard). One of the elements of societal regulation is prohibitive content regulation, “regulating the acceptable 'outer limits' of specific content based on social norms.” This, of course, enters directly into this discussion.

Where were the regulating bodies before and after this event? Well, there is no actual Puerto Rican regulating body, at least when it comes to content. Whoever wants to file a complaint has to depend on the FCC. The picture was published on mid September and so far there have been no sanctions, no punishment. The Puerto Rican Telecommunications Regulatory Committee criticized the show on the press, but not having the power, could not do much more.

This story, however, demonstrates that spectators have at least some say on the content that gets published, and can establish criteria beyond “what sells”. After the fact, people complained. Plain and simple. This led to an apology from the show's host and unmentioned “auto-regulating measures” by the channel's administration. I don't think it's enough, but at least it's a start.