There's no such thing as bad publicity
This past Friday (Feb. 2nd 2007) The New England PGM show on Lowell cable access aired Dreaded Silence's video for "Jet Black, Blood Red" which, for those of you who don't know, contains significant amounts of nudity. Consequently, the producer of the show is in a bit of trouble. We (Dreaded Silence) have received requests from WAAF, Channel 4, and Channel 7 for copies of the video. Unfortunately we are not all in agreement as to how to deal with this. Personally, I feel we should take the opportunity for exposure and run with it. Ken on the otherhand is concerned about what kind of trouble we might get in with the girls featured in the video because he is unsure about what is covered by the release forms we had them sign. For anyone reading this, I'm curious about other peoples opinion on the matter so leave a comment, wontcha?
Here's an article about it from the Lowell Sun:
LOWELL -- Fans of a late-night Lowell Telecommunications Corp. show apparently got more than they bargained for Friday, when, according to one viewer, two young women did more than dance during a prerecorded music video on Channel 8.
"I was totally shocked," said Ken Favreau of Lowell. "I though it was on Cinemax or something."
According to Favreau, a young woman in the video stripped naked while a band played. Another young woman appeared and was stripped by the first, to, as Favreau put it, "total, complete, nothing-on nudity." The women kissed, rubbed bodies and began painting one another's bodies, said Favreau.
"And I started flipping through to make sure this was Lowell cable. And it was," he added.
While the issue raises questions of what is and is not appropriate for cable television and community standards, some LTC board members are not happy about it.
"I'm not a happy person," said Rita Mercier, one of 25 LTC board members and a Lowell City Councilor. "From what I understand, there was full frontal nudity and more. If you want that, go to a video shop and rent something. But I don't want it on local cable access. ... If this goes on, how much more would someone try to get away with? I'm offended."
Robert Haigh, LTC's executive director, said late yesterday, "I think we've found a resolution to this one," because the show's producer had "voluntarily asked LTC to remove this episode in deference to community interests." He said LTC had received two complaints. (Favreau said he was not one of them.)
The incident aired "after 11:30," on a program called New England PGM Show, according to Haigh.
"It's mostly punk and rock videos," said Haigh.
LTC's Web site describes the show as a "filmed rock show ... playing local music, footage from live shows."
Haigh would not discuss the specifics of Friday's show, other than saying there was "adult material in the program."
He said LTC's programming committee will bring the issue to its board "to determine that legal 'Best Practices' are in place."
Haigh issued a 101-word statement yesterday afternoon referring to the show's "adult oriented material."
The Sun has not seen the video, and Haigh declined to produce a copy of it, saying "it's owned by the producer of the show."
"We don't own the copyright," he added, and declined to identify the show's producer.
Haigh said the Federal Communications Commission has designated programming between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. as "safe harbor hours." In his statement, Haigh said LTC attempts to program its channels "responsibly" and follow FCC guidelines for "adult-oriented material." The statement said LTC tries to balance "protected speech under the First Amendment" with legal hours for showing adult material.
Richard Howe Jr., who joined the LTC board in November, said that as the program was described to him, "My personal opinion is that it's not appropriate to be shown on a local cable TV show. I don't think that's the direction LTC should be headed. It's difficult to talk about something I haven't seen, but it sounds like it's the responsibility of a producer of a show, but coming with that duty should be some implied restraint. We should be keeping within what's acceptable to the community."
Jackie Doherty, a board member and Lowell School Committee member, said she wants to be "careful about censorship, but I'm also a mom who doesn't let her son watch wrestling."
"My initial feeling is, I'm not that thrilled about it," Doherty added. "As a board member, I want to look very carefully at the programming. We need more community involvement to put together better programming."
As for Favreau, he found high-school football highlights on local TV when he got up Saturday.
"My girlfriend was offended," he said. "When the video was on with those girls, she said, 'I don't think this is funny at all.'"
My favorite parrt is that someone left a comment about the article saying "Favreau's girlfriend should to lighten up". Hahaha.
Here's an article about it from the Lowell Sun:
LOWELL -- Fans of a late-night Lowell Telecommunications Corp. show apparently got more than they bargained for Friday, when, according to one viewer, two young women did more than dance during a prerecorded music video on Channel 8.
"I was totally shocked," said Ken Favreau of Lowell. "I though it was on Cinemax or something."
According to Favreau, a young woman in the video stripped naked while a band played. Another young woman appeared and was stripped by the first, to, as Favreau put it, "total, complete, nothing-on nudity." The women kissed, rubbed bodies and began painting one another's bodies, said Favreau.
"And I started flipping through to make sure this was Lowell cable. And it was," he added.
While the issue raises questions of what is and is not appropriate for cable television and community standards, some LTC board members are not happy about it.
"I'm not a happy person," said Rita Mercier, one of 25 LTC board members and a Lowell City Councilor. "From what I understand, there was full frontal nudity and more. If you want that, go to a video shop and rent something. But I don't want it on local cable access. ... If this goes on, how much more would someone try to get away with? I'm offended."
Robert Haigh, LTC's executive director, said late yesterday, "I think we've found a resolution to this one," because the show's producer had "voluntarily asked LTC to remove this episode in deference to community interests." He said LTC had received two complaints. (Favreau said he was not one of them.)
The incident aired "after 11:30," on a program called New England PGM Show, according to Haigh.
"It's mostly punk and rock videos," said Haigh.
LTC's Web site describes the show as a "filmed rock show ... playing local music, footage from live shows."
Haigh would not discuss the specifics of Friday's show, other than saying there was "adult material in the program."
He said LTC's programming committee will bring the issue to its board "to determine that legal 'Best Practices' are in place."
Haigh issued a 101-word statement yesterday afternoon referring to the show's "adult oriented material."
The Sun has not seen the video, and Haigh declined to produce a copy of it, saying "it's owned by the producer of the show."
"We don't own the copyright," he added, and declined to identify the show's producer.
Haigh said the Federal Communications Commission has designated programming between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. as "safe harbor hours." In his statement, Haigh said LTC attempts to program its channels "responsibly" and follow FCC guidelines for "adult-oriented material." The statement said LTC tries to balance "protected speech under the First Amendment" with legal hours for showing adult material.
Richard Howe Jr., who joined the LTC board in November, said that as the program was described to him, "My personal opinion is that it's not appropriate to be shown on a local cable TV show. I don't think that's the direction LTC should be headed. It's difficult to talk about something I haven't seen, but it sounds like it's the responsibility of a producer of a show, but coming with that duty should be some implied restraint. We should be keeping within what's acceptable to the community."
Jackie Doherty, a board member and Lowell School Committee member, said she wants to be "careful about censorship, but I'm also a mom who doesn't let her son watch wrestling."
"My initial feeling is, I'm not that thrilled about it," Doherty added. "As a board member, I want to look very carefully at the programming. We need more community involvement to put together better programming."
As for Favreau, he found high-school football highlights on local TV when he got up Saturday.
"My girlfriend was offended," he said. "When the video was on with those girls, she said, 'I don't think this is funny at all.'"
My favorite parrt is that someone left a comment about the article saying "Favreau's girlfriend should to lighten up". Hahaha.