Good Media
Television Programming: Exercise Your Choice
Andrea Rock, contributing editor
Cable television has provided us with a tremendous range of choices of programs our children may watch. Quality programs, however, are not nearly as plentiful. As parents, it is so easy to become discouraged and powerless against what seems to be the media behemoth. Surely, taking on the industry is not for the faint of heart, and our power is better exercised in numbers, rather than as individuals.
Enter the Parents Television Council, a nonpartisan education organization, that advocates responsible entertainment. At their website, www.parentstv.org, you may see the range of work done by this national grass-roots organization. For help with your viewing choices, you’ll find:
- The family guide to network television, updated weekly, giving parents a good idea of which shows are family friendly, and which may offer questionable values
- A column showing programs that do not match up to their suitability ratings, and columns explaining the ratings systems for TV, film, videogames and music
- Movie reviews
- Numerous advice columns
- A series of in-depth studies in such areas as gender portrayal; sex, drugs and profanity in cartoons; the sexualization of teen girls; and many other studies
For parents who want not only to be informed, but also to become activist, by joining or starting a grassroots chapter, there are currently 55 chapters nationally, including 1.3 million members. These chapters are currently working on four campaigns:
- The Broadcast Decency Campaign. You’ll find a one-click option to file a complaint with the FCC, over foul language in prime time media, nudity or partial nudity or overtly sexual programming. You’ll be able to see the work that the PTC has been engaged in over the decency issue.
- The Advertiser Accountability Campaign helps us understand that other than pay-cable channels like HBO, all network and cable programs are aired for one reason only—for advertisers to gain access to our eyeballs. In addition to listing for us the ten best and worst advertisers of the year, we are given one-click access to the advertisers of offensive programs, to simplify our ability to complain to them directly.
- Campaign for Cable Choice. Expanded basic cable gives us many choices of programming. However, bundled with family-friendly channels such as Disney, Nickelodeon, Discovery, and the Family Channel, are the like of MTV, FX, and many more non-family programming. The PTC has been lobbying Congress to force the providers to give us a real choice, by allowing us to subscribe to only the cable channels we want to allow into our homes. Again, there is a one-click opportunity to cast a vote for cable choice.
- Violent Video Games. Many of today’s video games are stunningly violent and realistic, and research shows that such games may influence the way our children think about using violence to solve problems. Our US military agrees. They use simulators that are very much like first-person shooter video games, to desensitize soldiers to violence and mentally prepare them to kill. There are currently no laws that restrict retailers’ selling these games to minors! Once again, you’ll have one-click access to support the PTC’s campaign.
So parents, if you are frustrated with the messages and values that are beamed into our children’s hearts and minds via television, please know that there are avenues of choice for us: ones that have the potential to bring about serious change!