Washington D.C., USA – A day after the nation's largest radio chain suspended shock jock Howard Stern, broadcasters sought to convince lawmakers that they're serious about limiting indecency on the airwaves. Congressional committee members still expressed skepticism about the broadcasting industry curbing indecent displays on its own. Several pointed out that Clear Channel has not yet agreed to pay FCC-imposed fines related to his show.

    Under questioning, Clear Channel Radio president and chief executive John Hogan acknowledged yesterday that the bawdy content of Stern's show has been going on for years, but he said the company has taken a new approach. "As a broadcaster, as a CEO, and as a parent of a 9-year-old girl, I am ashamed to be in any way associated with these words," Hogan said of Stern’s show. Clear Channel knocked Stern's show off stations in six cities indefinitely after a broadcast Tuesday in which the radio host used sexually explicit language and graphically discussed a pornographic videotape.

    Clear Channel's Hogan was joined in his testimony by representatives of the Fox, ABC and NBC television networks, all of whom said they are committed to measures they say will help parents take more control of what their children watch. ABC, for instance, announced that it will broadcast a show's rating after every commercial break – not just at the show's beginning – so that viewers who tune in while the show is in progress will know what to expect. However, Harry J. Pappas, chairman and chief executive of Pappas Telecasting Cos., which owns about two dozen major affiliates, said networks pressure affiliates to accept their programming and often send shows too late for them to be properly evaluated.

    National Cable and Telecommunications Association spokesman Brian Dietz said in an interview that his group would resist any effort to regulate cable programming because cable subscribers already have choices that network viewers don't. "Cable always provides its customers with the technology to block channels that families don't want to view in their homes," Dietz said. The cable and broadcast industries both argue that educating parents, not enacting regulation, is the best way to keep kids away from indecent content.

    However, as Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) said, the culture of television has become so pervasive that simply turning off the set is no longer a solution. Cox cited the example of an incident that took place at his home, while wrestling with his 5-year-old son recently. Cox needed a break and called "halftime.” At the time, his son jumped up and ripped off his shirt (mimicking Janet Jackson who recently exposed herself vulgarly during Super Bowl halftime show) and said, "Halftime show!" Cox mentioned, "He didn't see the halftime show, but he does go to kindergarten. And that's what people are talking about."