Group Says Television Violence a 'Bloodbath'
by Ed Vitagliano
May 19, 2004
(AgapePress) - Over the four-year period from 1998 to 2002, the amount of television violence on the six major broadcast networks increased dramatically, according to a major media watchdog group.The Parents Television Council (PTC) reviewed the prime-time programming for ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN and WB for its report on the state of the television industry. In TV Bloodbath: Violence in Prime Time Network Television, PTC reveals that, in 2002, depictions of violence were 41 percent more frequent during the first hour of prime-time, and 134 percent more frequent during the second hour, than in 1998.
"Television violence has become more graphic over time as well, with more frequent use of guns or other weapons, more depictions of blood in violent scenes, and more on-screen killings and depictions of death in 2002 than in 1998," the report said.
TV Bloodbath does present distinctions in its findings between the individual networks, which differ in the amounts and explicitness of the televised violence that appears in their programming. Still, PTC believes consumers can influence the networks to reduce the violent content.
"Broadcasters will continue to push the envelope with TV violence as long and as far as they are able," the report states. "The only way to reverse this trend is for viewers to push back."
The report suggests that concerned parents can contact advertisers about their support of violent programming, that local affiliate stations can be encouraged to abide by community standards, and that federal entities -- both Congress and the Federal Communications Commission -- can be urged to make it a priority to reduce TV violence and expand existing policies on broadcast indecency to include violence.
Ed Vitagliano, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is news editor for AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. This article appeared in the May 2004 issue.
