Eventually, the nudity, profanity and sexual overtones of public broadcasts dull the senses, and people simply go away or tune out.

The ruling Monday by a federal appeals court to throw out the penalty imposed on CBS for the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” represents another change in our public standards.

Some 90 million people tuned in to the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show and listened to Justin Timberlake sing “gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” just before he ripped away Janet Jackson’s bustier, exposing her breast for an instant.

The Federal Communications Commission went after CBS, levying a $550,000 fine for the actions of the two performers. Lawyers representing each side of the ruling argued whether the broadcaster should be responsible for the behavior of those being broadcast, and whether the rules of the governing agency were clear or simply arbitrary.

Based on this ruling, CBS was not responsible for the event and the policies of the FCC are apparently too muddled to restrict the televising of a woman’s breast during this country’s most-watched spectacle.

The incident resulted in more than 542,000 complaints being filed with the FCC, which the agency reported was a record. Public fervor spilled onto newspaper editorial pages; callers voiced angry opinions on radio talk shows, and the talking heads on television gathered collective experts to decry the decimation of public standards.

The ruling Monday is not a source of fear for those who hope for a moral standard in America. Four years after this incident, reflection proves Janet Jackson’s breast is simply another example of the culture defining our nation.

Other prominent demonstrations have been logged by the “free speech” of Howard Stern, the offensive television language of Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie, and the invasion of provocative music videos, just to name a few. Rather than protest, conservative viewers have made a conscientious decision to simply find more reliable content providers.

If the same incident were to happen again on network television, there is a question of whether public reaction would be comparable. Regardless of an aggressive response by the FCC, the continued pollution of public airways with nudity, profanity and sexual overtones eventually dulls the senses and the public outrage goes away.

And, so does the audience.

The Journal-Standard