Poll: Janet's Revelation No Crime
Most Say Breast-Baring Was In Poor Taste, But Not Worth FCC Probe
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Play CBS Video Video Indecent TV Crackdown
Two Congressional panels, already angry about radio shock jocks and low brow TV, used hearings to lash out at the Super Bowl show staged by the NFL and CBS, Wyatt Andrews reports.
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Video FCC Decency Crackdown
Elizabeth Sanches reports on the hearings into the Janet Jackson breast-bearing incident during the Super Bowl, called a 'new low for prime-time television' by FCC chair Michael Powell.
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Video Justin 'Frustrated' By Hoopla
In an exclusive interview with CBS station KCBS, Justin Timberlake said he was "shocked and appalled" by Janet's bared breast, and that such stunts aren't his style. Manuel Gallegus reports.
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Jackson covers breast exposed during Super Bowl halftime show, as Justin Timberlake looks on (AP)
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Photo Essay Stealing The Show Janet, Justin, Beyonce and others add to the big game excitement.
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Interactive DO NOT USE_Super Bowl Ads Some of the year's most creative and hilarious ads are rolled out during the big game.
An Associated Press poll found 54 percent of those surveyed said they thought the act, in which singer Justin Timberlake snatched off part of Jackson's bustier and revealed her breast to millions of television viewers was in bad taste. Only 18 percent thought it was an illegal act.
The Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether the broadcast violated federal indecency laws.
According to the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs, the FCC ought to spend its time on other things. Nearly 80 percent of respondents said it's a waste of money to investigate.
"I can see how parents wouldn't want their children to see it," said Diana Foster, a 50-year-old resident of Nicholas County, Ky., in the central part of the state. "But an investigation is a waste of money. Sure it wasn't very nice, but they're using our tax money for this."
In the AP-Ipsos poll, women were more likely than men to say the halftime show should be investigated, and whites more likely than blacks. Republicans were twice as likely as Democrats to favor an investigation. Young adults were less likely than other age groups to think an investigation was called for.
Almost half of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 said the Jackson incident was neither illegal or in bad taste.
Despite limited public concern about the Janet Jackson incident, there is evidence of public support for government action to clean up regular television channels.
Recent polling found a solid majority — about three fourths — who say they would support stricter rules on nudity and sexual content on regular television channels.
"They need to clean up television generally," said Michael Zannella, a 70-year-old retiree from Wheatfield, N.Y. "That one incident at the Super Bowl is nothing compared to what's on television all the time."
The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,000 adults was taken Feb. 16-18. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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