From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's On the Media.

I'm Brooke Gladstone.

And I'm Bob Garfield. Last month,

the House of Representatives approved the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004. It raises the fine per violation from $27,500 to half a million dollars. This means that the FCC will have the power to levy multiple fines

in the multi-millions for indiscretions on nationally syndicated shows.

On Wednesday, broadcasters from around the country

gathered with regulators, parents, groups, and media watchdogs

to mull over the issues.

Oddly, the National Association of Broadcasters'

Summit on Responsible Programming, which was filled with representatives from big media,

was closed to the press. But broadcasting and cable magazines Bill McConnell was lurking nearby,

and he suspects that this time the broadcast chiefs were not flagellating

themselves at nearly the rate they were in the congressional hearings over Janet Jackson's

Super Bowl breast.

They were, you know, trying to say more, okay, we hear you, here's our point of view.

We don't think that the situation is as bad as you say it is, but we know you have some concerns that are reasonable and we think there are a few things we can do to make it better.

A few things.

I think eventually the broadcasters will come up with something a little bit stronger than they have now, possibly reviving some form of the old code of conduct or maybe something a little bit less strict that would strongly encourage

broadcasters to set up a block of time for family viewing that isn't going to have raunchy

programming.

But I think it's going to take a while.

Yesterday, Eddie Fred's the president of the National Association of Broadcasters, said,

...