A one-time 'conservative superstar' in California just went bankrupt

[UpInArms]

In the age of widespread internet use, many of the old fights about television’s depictions of sex, violence and profanity have fallen by the wayside. And now, one of the 2000s’ most prominent culture watchdogs is at its end as well. On Friday, the Parents Television Council declared bankruptcy.

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As the bankruptcy now winds its way through the legal process, it appears that the watchdog’s three-decade run is at an end. The council was formed in 1995 as a Hollywood outpost of Leo Brent Bozell III’s Media Research Center, a still-active group that aims to document liberal bias in the news media and beyond — Bozell is currently President Donald Trump’s ambassador to South Africa.

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But the council hit its stride in the mid-2000s, around the time it adopted its “Because Our Children Are Watching” tagline. It claimed to have driven a fourth of the 530,828 complaints to the Federal Communications Commission over Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl and to have driven away advertisers from edgy shows “Nip/Tuck” and “The Shield.” Its complaints about a raunchy bachelor party scene on the show “Married by America” led to a $1.2 million FCC fine for Fox stations. Another wave of complaints, over a suggestive episode of “Without a Trace,” delivered a $3.6 million fine against CBS stations from the agency.

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One figure who won’t be sad to see the council go? “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane. He said in a 2008 interview with the Advocate magazine that being on the receiving end of the council’s criticism was “like getting hate mail from Hitler.”

https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/parents-television-council-went-bankrupt-21091238.php