Okay -- you hit on a topic I actually care about. But before I begin my rant, I'd like to suggest a television show: Nova on PBS. It's one of the few shows I watch regularly and very, very good. They did a multi-part thing on string theory that was excellent.
Anyway, I feel the key is to educate parents as to what's out there in media so they can make smart choices for their children. For instance, did you know there is a rating system for video games? Called the ESRB.
Parents have to become smart consumers of media for their children. This is no different than meal planning. And while everyone knows what goes into a healthy meal and what their children eat, few parents know what their children are consuming in terms of media or what makes up a healthy diet of media.I personally know parents who wouldn't let their kids subsist on a diet of junk food, but let them watch hour upon hour of junk TV, junk music and junk video games.
I don't disagree about what parents should do to parent; the point I am making is we do not live in a vacuum. We walk the Public Sqaure and it need not be an open sewer. What the MTV people want to do is pollute the public square. You are making it a private issue and it is not. V's wife.