False Witness Morality in Media and EBSCO
Do not be fooled by the name. It’s just a rebranding. Ever wonder what this organization really is? Take a look at the article. It is not to be trusted.
The complainants challenging EBSCO cite and use language from an organization called the National Coalition on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE). But the group may be more familiar by its first name: Morality in Media. Founded in 1962, Morality in Media, which then described itself as a “faith based organization,” led various campaigns against the sin of dirty words (one of its members filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission about George Carlin’s famous “7 words” radio show (Sanburn 2012); the sale of Playboy magazine on military bases (Green 2013); and pushed for the vigorous enforcement of anti-obscenity laws (Steigerwald 2012).
In 2015, Morality In Media, Inc. changed its name to National Center on Sexual Exploitation “to better describe our scope and mission to expose the seamless connection between all forms of sexual exploitation” (NCOSE 2018a). Another explanation might be that Morality in Media was often dismissed by mainstream media for its overt religious bias. Subsequently, it attempted to recast its image as more research and policy-based.
But its concern for “decency” and opposition to sexual imagery continued. For instance, in February of 2015, it tried to pressure stores to remove a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. “It’s blatant pornography,” said spokeswoman Dawn Hawkins (Bumpas 2015). Retailers, such as Walgreen’s and Barnes and Noble, mostly ignored the complaints.
The common denominator of these studies is the fundamental confusion between correlation (“The list of connections goes on and on”) and causation. Some sex criminals may use pornography; but looking at pornography does not make everyone a sex criminal.
On the basis of these studies and others like them, NCOSE advances a sweeping policy agenda. Some samples (2017b):
- “The government can curb the demand for prostitution, sex trafficking, child sex abuse, and sexual violence by demanding the Attorney General enforce these existing federal laws, which prohibit distribution of hardcore pornography on the internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops, and by common carrier.” (“Pornography” includes what, exactly?)
- “Institute routine audit and removal of pornography found on military computers, storage drives, work areas, and officer’s clubs, across all branches of the US military.”
- Outlaw strip clubs for all military personnel.
- “Direct the US Surgeon General and the US Department of Health and Human Services to fund research into the public health harms of pornography, and launch comprehensive efforts to abate these problems.”
In short, on the basis of studies that do not prove what they suggest, NCOSE seeks increased governmental censorship, and research to prove things they have already decided to be true.