"Lynch mob mentality" at Senate violent music hearing

*************** [Forwarded with permission. --Declan] Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 11:53:02 -0500 From: Nina Crowley <crowleyn@ultranet.com> Subject: Senate hearing summary Hi, This is really long but I think everyone should get a sense of the lynch mob mentality in last weeks Senate subcommittee hearing. Senate Subcommittee Hearing Senator Sam Brownback’s subcommittee hearing on the possible effect of music violence on society was a major disaster for music and freedom of expression. The hearing, held on Nov.6, for 2 hours, had a very restricted list of speakers. For the two weeks previous to the hearing I and many others applied to testify and were denied. Brownback’s staff member in charge of overseeing the panels was Cherie Harder. (Ms. Harder appeared in the Oct. 19 MTV special "Fight for the Right" representing Empower America.) Ms. Harder was doggedly dedicated to preserving the short and biased list of speakers, refusing to consider additional speakers or an extended hearing time allotment. Senator Brownback (who on Wednesday seemed open to exploring the issue) took a totally different tack in his opening statement. He outlined society’s current ills including a jump in teen suicide, pregnancy, crime, and drug use. He talked of a "sense that we have lost ground" (in the war against teens perhaps? nc) and that society has grown "coarser, meaner, and more alienated". He reports that "there has been a marked increase in explicit violence and misogyny in popular music". (Sen. Brownback offered no reference to statistics which support any of these statements. His stated belief that "research, debate and discussion" were needed was certainly not carried out in this biased and, it seemed at times, rehearsed condemnation of popular music. nc) He said "The most appropriate place to begin that inquiry is with the music itself." (It is astounding that he could make this statement after refusing requests from several major recording artists over the previous two weeks! nc) He cited the songs "Mo Thugs" or "Slap a Ho" by Dove Shack and shock rockers Marilyn Manson and Cannibal Corpse as examples of problem songs and artists. (These are the same songs and artists that were attacked by C. Delores Tucker, Wm. Bennett, Sen Lieberman, and Sen. Nunn in May of 1996. Can you cite a rise in violence in music if you don’t take the time to listen to new artists? nc) Sen. Brownback went on to quote a Carnegie Foundation study (these are the same people speaker Dr. Stanley Roberts wrote for in 1990) which shows teens spending less time with their parents and more time listening to music. He ended with saying that "it stands to reason that prolonged exposure to such hate-filled lyrics . . . could have an effect on one’s attitudes, assumptions, . . . decisions, and behavior. Understanding the nature and extent of the influence of music violence may well be the first step . . . for ensuring a more civil society." Senator Joseph Lieberman was the first to testify. His testimony began here and continued from the dais. At the conclusion of his testimony he took his seat next to Senator Brownback on the subcommittee and preceded every question to a panelist with another 3 or 4 minutes further outlining his beliefs. He effectively manipulated the situation to provide himself with 2 hours worth of pontificating and captive media attention. He spoke of our "broken culture", our "surreal, Alice-in-Wonderland" culture in which kids our better armed than police, we celebrate brazen luminaries like Dennis Rodman, and "don’t seem to blink when prominent corporate citizens sell music to our children that celebrates violence". He cited tv shows like Fox’s "When Animals Attack" and video games like "Postal", and advertisers like Calvin Klein as perverse and degrading. (He also mentioned the songs Brownback did but spelled Ho wrong.nc) He wants to take a close look at gangsta rap, stating that rappers celebrate murder and mayhem on their cds then live it on the streets which led to Tupac’s and B.I.G.’s deaths. He also outlined FBI investigations of Death Row as evidence of the kind of people who produce this music. He, as did every one of the speakers said I’m not "talking about censorship". He wants corporate responsibility on the part of recording companies, particularly Seagrams and Sony, adoption of basic standards for music, Seagrams to "dump" Marilyn Manson, and said "In the meantime, I hope the RIAA will consider improving its one-size-fits-all labeling system". I urge you to go to Lieberman’s website at: http://www.senate.gov/member/ct/lieberman/releases/r110697c.html to read his statement in its entirety. The next speaker was Mr. Raymond Kuntz of Burlington, ND. He tearfully related the story of his son’s suicide. When his wife went to wake their son for school they found him dead of a gunshot wound, still wearing his headphones with Marilyn Manson’s Anti-Christ Superstar cd still in the player. The boy’s favorite song was "The Reflecting God", the lyrics to which were included in Mr. Kuntz packet. He also included,(and entered into the record) an interview with Marilyn from the June 96 issue of High Times. Mr. Kuntz, in his statement called MM a "drug fiend" who publicly uses drugs and, who takes LSD and then goes to Disney World. He reported that MM, during his shows has exposed his genitalia, sodomized himself with a stick which he then threw into the crowd, and asks fans to spit on him. (Keep in mind here that after each testimony, Sen. Lieberman would repeat and expound on the most "heinous" anti-music facts in each presentation. After this one he shook his head and said something like ~imagine asking people to spit on you in this time of Aids~. nc) Dr. Frank Palumbo, of the American Academy of Peditarics, is a practicing pediatrician from Washington DC. He referred to the AAP Committee on Communications policy statements of December 1989 and 1995 as the official statements of the Academy. (new paragraph in his statement - does this mean that what follows are his thoughts, not the thoughts of the Academy - it’s not clear. nc) He acknowledged the importance of music in a teen’s identity. He outlined the increase in violence, drugs, and sex in rock music over the past four decades citing heavy metal and rap as being of greatest concern. He quoted lyrics from Nine Inch Nails "Big Man with a Gun" and some MM lyrics as examples. He reports that "To date, no studies have documented a cause-and-effect relationship between sexually explicit or violent lyrics and adverse behavioral effects. But we can all acknowledge the overall effect music has on people." (!?) He stated that music videos may have a significant behavioral impact by desensitizing violence and reported that music videos by Guns-N-Roses and Beastie Boys videos each had 36 violent episodes in performing just one song. (And, back to that war against teens, nc) he referred to a report entitled "Kids These Days: What Americans Really Think About the Next Generation" which decried sex and violence but reported that "only half of those surveyed (49%) think pressuring the entertainment industry . . . will be a very effective way to help kids" and that "perhaps people doubt that the industry will be responsive to public pressure". Dr. Palumbo ended his testimony with a list of recommendations one of which was for the "music industry to develop and apply a system of specific content labeling regarding violence, sex, drugs, or offensive lyrics,". Hilary Rosen, President of the RIAA was the next to testify. Before beginning she entered into the record Mass. M.I.C.’s anti-censorship petition directed at Sen. Lieberman among others, containing 7836 sigs. by young people across the country. She also mentioned presenting introducing statements by musicians although I never saw evidence of them. In spite of extensive research in preparation for this hearing Hilary was astoundingly ill prepared. The message by the RIAA in the days preceding the hearing was that pro-music pro-speech forces should try not to ‘upset’ the Senators. In spite of obvious anti-music sentiments expressed by committee members in meetings previous to the hearing, the RIAA underestimated the seriousness of the attack and was not prepared to push back. Hilary was asked for sales figures for MM’s cd and others and "had no idea", when asked for demographic information about purchasers of this and other cds she also had "no idea". Sen. Brownback reiterated those questions several times and was obviously angry that she either didn’t know or was hiding something. Hilary’s statement began with references to Elvis and teen suicide references in "Romeo and Juliet" (Brownback said he felt it was insulting to even compare MM to Shakespeare.nc) Hilary expressed the industry’s concern and gave examples of musicians working to combat teen violence, sex, drug use etc. She cited Heavy D, Ice Cube, and Queen Latifah. (However, RIAA, chose not to facilitate the participation of a prominent rap artist in presenting his concerns to the Senators. Even though they cite his contributions among these others in their research materials.nc) Hilary went on to describe the Musician’s Assistance Program and "our"(?) Rock The Vote campaign. She said that "by no means" are our "artists perfect" and reported that there were scenes from Chain Saw Massacre or NYPD Blue that she would not let a 10 yr. old see. She then reported on the "parental advisory sticker" program and said that "We support efforts to have retailers restrict sales of albums to consumers under the age of 17."!!!! (~This is exactly the issue that got me into the fight to preserve free expression in the first place in 1995. At that time the RIAA was actively fighting cities and states that tried to enforce this kind of censorship. RIAA’s attitudes seem to have changed dramatically over these two years. You have to ask yourself how damaging their attitudes toward preserving free expression could be in another 2 years! nc~) Hilary reported that in a record store with 110,000 titles, less than œ of one percent of a store’s total inventory will carry a parental advisory logo. (and more than 3/4s of of those titles are by black artists - Hilary didn’t say that, I did nc). (Does that mean that mean that stickered product is not meaningful or is expendable? nc) She reported that record company execs constantly make choices to not put out songs which don’t meet the test of artistic credibility. (Brownback questioned her on this issue repeatedly. He managed not to say ‘you think MM has artistic credibility’ but it was clearly what he was getting at.) She encouraged parents to read the lyrics to songs their kids brought home. (Brownback mentioned at one point that he wished lyrics could be printed in the paper!) Hilary also stressed that if a parent disapproves of something their kids bought the record stores would take it back. Hilary said "As long as there is an audience demanding to listen, there will be people willing to produce artists far outside the mainstream." ! (reasons for a war against teens,nc) During questioning after her prepared testimony Hilary stated music stores ‘will not sell stickered product to those under 17’, (a fact which is totally untrue and an amazingly stupid and dangerous statement on her part.nc) By the end of the hearing C. Delores Tucker produced a kid who testified as to how easy it was for kids under 17 to buy stickered product, that kids can find out ‘on the street’ where they can buy - (now Hilary has managed to make stickered product look like an illegal narcotic. She’s also practically told legislators to push for mandatory labeling and restrictions! nc) (Hilary Rosen was clearly not concerned with freedom of expression or in protecting music from the attacks of these Senators. We would have fared better if she had not spoken at all.nc) The final two panelists were C. Delores Tucker and Dr. Donald F. Roberts of Stanford University. Tucker showed up with her blown up photos of Marilyn Manson and had the same inflammatory statements to make against rap and rock. Her testimony was totally unremarkable and there was nothing new (for that reason and because my fingers are about to fall off I’ll not go into details. I will forward a copy of her testimony to anyone who would like one.) Unfortunately I did not get a copy of Dr. Roberts testimony. It was brief and significantly similar to Dr. Palumbo’s in terms of statements about music’s effect on young people. Of note is the fact that Senator Lieberman welcomed Dr. Roberts by saying that he was glad to see him and that they had worked together before on these ‘important issues’. (enough said,nc). As the hearing was about to end, Ms. Tucker begged that the young boy she’d brought along "all this way" have a chance to speak. Brownback’s initial response was that he couldn’t allow it because so many others had asked to speak but were refused. Tucker begged a bit more and Brownback consented. The boy testified as to how easy it was to buy "stickered" cds if you were under 17 (which Brownback made sure he repeated a few times) and then the young man described the satanic fans who had invaded his neighborhood before an MM concert "doing violent stuff" like "smashing windshields." At this point Michael Eric Dyson asked from his seat, if in the interest of fairness, he be allowed to speak also. Brownback refused him. (Dyson had repeatedly sought an opportunity to appear at the hearing and Jesse Jackson had written to Brownback on his behalf asking that Dyson be heard, all to no avail). The hearing adjourned to a press conference in the hall. Speakers there were Dyson, myself, and Bill Adler. Mr. Dyson spoke eloquently on the hearings, the bias in the panels, these repeated attacks on rap, and the "mean spirited" tactic of Ms. Tucker among other things. I spoke for a couple of minutes after which Mr. Tucker pushed his way through the crowd of reporters rushing Dyson and saying he was furious at how Dyson had described his wife and that he would "die" protecting her reputation. Several people stepped in to pull Mr. Tucker back while Michael Dyson calmly stood by his previous statements. As Mr. Tucker was pulled away he pointed at Dyson saying that "the next time we meet you’d better bring an extra pair of glasses, ‘cause you’re going to need them." All of this was caught on film. Security then ended the press conference. That’s pretty much what took place. A real disaster for free speech and for music. Nina Fight Censorship - Listen to the Banned! Mass. M.I.C. http://www.ultranet.com/~crowleyn/mmic.html