Posted on 11/09/2005 5:36:21 PM PST by Pikamax
Sen. Obama Warns TV to Clean Up or Congress Will Act By Doug Halonen
If the industry doesn't take significant steps to make it easier for parents to control what their children view on television, Congress will step in and legislate. That was a warning shot fired by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in a speech Wednesday in Washington.
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"The amount of questionable content spilling across our screens is growing by the year," Sen. Obama said at a press conference to release a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation that says the number of sex scenes on TV has been increasing dramatically over the past several years.
"Once again, we find ourselves asking those in charge to serve the needs of a nation that has a higher calling than simply peddling indecency and materialism for profit," the senator said.
The study, which examined a representative example of broadcast and cable TV network shows, said that 70 percent of programs included some sexual content this year (with an average of five sex scenes per hour), while only 56 percent did so in 1998 (with 3.2 sex scenes per hour). Among shows that had sexual content, the study said, 14 percent this year included a reference to sexual risks or responsibilities, up from 9 percent in 1998.
But Sen. Obama said he is particularly concerned about the impact television is having on the ability of parents to instill positive values in their children. "Raising your children this way has become exceedingly difficult in a mass media culture that saturates our airwaves with a steady stream of sex, violence and materialism," he said.
I happen to agree with you. A dem finally says something right and everyone jumps on him. Sincere or not, it's a start. I have 2 young girls. I also have cable television that carries about 300 channels. Nearly 200 of them are blocked by me because I find their content objectionable and not suitable for my kids.
I tried to keep my daughters from seeing that irresponsible Madonna/Britney Spears kiss on MTV. Did a good job too until they saw it one day on a television in a clothing store in the mall! My point is, you cannot keep kids locked in the house 24/7, you cannot keep them from their friends' houses, you cannot keep them from listening to unedited music at school, etc.
It's way too rampant and something MUST be done at this point. Sometimes I can't believe what I see and hear during daytime hours TV and now even the radio. I shouldn't have to explain to my 11 year old what Viagra is because she saw it advertised on a commercial. And have you recently listened to morning drive and afternoon drive FM radio? Holy cow, the talk is downright offensive.
Recently while watching a family-oriented channel, they showed what I consider a soft porn commercial for the trashy show "Nip Tuck". Now tell me how I'm supposed to monitor that?? Shows geared toward teens like DiGrassi High constantly deals with sexual, homosexual, drug issues. It's all portrayed as normal with no real consequences for any of it. It's getting to the point where I find 80% of tv programing inapproprite for my children. Frankly, I'm sick to death of it.
Nice to have someone who gets it. Thanks.
Yup! A Newbie!
BINGO!
That's exactly what I thought when I saw it.
Are you saying after I've been around a few more years, I'll start thinking like others on here?
He's still a Chicago politician and we know they all lie through their teeth, cheat, steal and engage in sinful behavior.
good things could happen to you too.
WELCOME TO FR BUDDY!!!
You allow your kids to go on the Internet alone when you aren't there to watch them?
Change the channel....better yet...push the power button.
I sure hope the Dems don't generalize about Republicans.
" whatever it takes"
Coming to a communist state near you. Wait until a hillary type is in office, will you say the same?
Well, I'm happy for you and your children's friends. We can now dismantle the FCC and allow even more trash on TV. And imagine what TV will be like by the time you have grandkids. But I'm sure you can protect them for all the evil in the world all by yourself.
GMTA! :)
First woman, first black = democrat dream team and MSM will love it.
No one is forcing you to own a television. It's that simple.
You don't have any kids, do you? Because if you did, you'd feel differently about this. I don't want the gov't censoring anything. But I DO want accountability in the entertainment industry. How do we do that? I don't really know, but somebody with a brain has to figure something out because the problem's getting so bad that even dems are noticing. Now that's bad...
"I don't care what the play on TV. If they want to play porn, it's no sweat off me. I'm not going to watch it. It's an option to have a TV, it's not a necessary item for survival. You can live without TV. It's called responsibility. You can opt out of tv."
As far as Democrats in general are concerned, I don't really care what they say ~ they're all a bunch of unpatriotic punks who ought to be deported back to the third-world hellholes their ancestors came from ~ and soon!
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