Two dozen national grassroots organizations are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to enforce broadcast decency standards currently on the books.
Groups such as Concerned Women for America, the nation's largest public policy women's organization, are asking for a face-to-face meeting with FCC Chairman Michael Powell to discuss objectionable prime-time television shows. They say shows such as WWF Smackdown, Will & Grace, and Boston Public are loaded with crude language and sexual depictions.
CWA spokeswoman Martha Kleder wants Powell to explain why the FCC is not enforcing its own standards. “TV and radio are very quickly spiraling into a cesspool,” Kleder says. “It is getting very low — in fact, it's to the point now where we're asking, where is the line going to be drawn? When is it going to stop?”
The television networks need to be held accountable for their actions, Kleder says. “Is the [FCC] going to stop this downward spiral at any point in time?” she asks. “Or are we going to have … pornography, obscenity, and child abuse and the like … on television?”
The American Family Association is also part of the coalition of organizations seeking a meeting with the FCC chairman. That organization recently launched an e-mail-based campaign targeting networks and advertisers that air objectionable material on television.
In its most recent release, OneMillionDads.com and OneMillionMoms.com are focusing on Burger King's sponsorship of The Shield, a new series on the FX Network. Those two websites describe the show as “probably the most vulgar, violent, and tasteless program on the air.”
Garbage In, Garbage Out
Meanwhile, a new study says watching three or more hours of television a day increases teen and adult aggression. The study in last week's issue of the journal Science is the most comprehensive to date about the effects of television violence on teens and those in their twenties.
It involved following 700 young people over a 16-year period, and found that the effects of TV violence are not limited to children, but continue well into adulthood. Among those who watched less than an hour of TV daily at age 14, just 6% were involved in aggressive acts by the ages of 16 through 22.
According to Iowa State University psychology professor Brad Bushman, “the correlation between violent media and aggression is larger than the effect of second-hand smoke on cancer.”
(This article courtesy of Agape Press.)