Posted on 04/25/2007 10:34:28 PM PDT by Islander7
WASHINGTON, April 25 — Concerned about an increase in violence on television, the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday urged lawmakers to consider regulations that would restrict violent programs to late evening, when most children would not be watching.
The commission, in a long-awaited report, concluded that the program ratings system and technology intended to help parents block offensive programs — like the V-chip — had failed to protect children from being regularly exposed to violence.
As a result, the commission recommended that Congress move to limit violence on entertainment programs by giving the agency the authority to define such content and restrict it to late evening television.
It also suggested that Congress adopt legislation that would give consumers the option to buy cable channels “à la carte” — individually or in smaller bundles — so that they would be able to reject channels they did not want.
“Clearly, steps should be taken to protect children from excessively violent programming,” said Kevin J. Martin, the agency’s chairman and a longtime proponent of à la carte programming. “Some might say such action is long overdue. Parents need more tools to protect children from excessively violent programming.”
The commission report, which was requested by Congress three years ago, was sharply criticized by civil liberties advocates and by the cable television industry for proposing steps that both said would be too intrusive.
“These F.C.C. recommendations are political pandering,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union. “The government should not replace parents as decision makers in America’s living rooms. There are some things that the government does well. But deciding what is aired and when on television is not one of them.”
She added: “Government should not parent the parents.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
http://www.slate.com/id/2095396/
The FCC should tape Rosie’s treasonous noise hole.
Day late and a dollar short.
Does this include restricting Alec Balwdwin from calling for the murder of elected members of Congress and their families on late night talk shows?
Let me see ... The FCC — still staffed by Clinton holdovers — is trying to focus the nation’s attention on violence lest the public become overly interested in the untoward comments by liberal icons like Imus and Rosie.
Predictable.
So for us on the west Coast who have satellite which programs are from an East Coast feed it means nothing, the mayhem will start before our kids are even thinking about bed.
The sexual content has got to be a bad influence. Some of the stuff in prime-time is pretty explicit, and The Kidd is not exactly a prude.
What about the violent video games and the music?
This morning CBS News linked the violence to 24. I’m wondering if they did that to acquire the sympathy of conservatives, or perhaps to villify 24.
Not much, although I can imagine an argument that TV is considered to be more mainstream, and therefore of greater influence.
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