Last year the country was shocked and stunned by an unprecedented sight on television: Janet Jackson’s breast reveal during the Supertime half-time show. The only thing worse would have been a breast reveal by American Idol’s Ruben Studdard.
The FCC clamped down, warning that it would pursue a draconian fine policy….Howard Stern was targeted…his stations were told they would be fined…Stern announced he’d abandon the airwaves for satillite TV (which means Dennis Kucinich and Alan Keyes could hear his show better from their condo on Mars).
And now, in South Carolina, there is a move to crack down on something more hideous, something that makes viewers squirm, yet something that motives some people to run to their telephone to get some of it — they must have it:
A clampdown on sensationalist lawyers ads on television.
Backcountry Conservative has the details, quoting a news story:
In a move designed to curb the extremes that some lawyers go to in attracting clients, a South Carolina law ethics panel is proposing new rules of conduct that would ban most, if not all, forms of sensational advertising by lawyers.
Catchy nicknames would be eliminated. So would testimonials made by happy clients showing settlement checks. No one would be able to claim being the No. 1 lawyer of their kind in the state.
Advocates say the crackdown would go a long way toward controlling airwave hype that some say has tarnished the profession.
In South Carolina, the rules of conduct change will contain provision that make the lawyer totally responsible for the content of their ads — totally. And:"The rules would cover all forms of lawyer advertising, including TV and radio, print, bus stop benches and the phone book. Advertising would not be banned outright; only content would be limited."
Remember that for years lawyers didn’t advertise. Advertisments only started after 1977 after some Arizona lawyers ran ads, the state said self-promotion ads were illegal and the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court which sided with the lawyers. Then the ads began all over, coupled with a debate within the legal community about when ads cheap the profession.
(The news article also suggests lawyers use funny names. Lawyers don’t use funny names, according to San Diego lawyer Ike N. Winforyou.)
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.