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.
Quite a stretch from I don't like the trash on TV to I hope Hillary becomes president. A little logic would help in this discussion.
Did they ever find out who shot JR?
Why don't you liberals focus on what you are doing to our kids in public schools. They learn more about how to have sex in school than on TV, where we can control what they see.
You mean you missed that episode!! Everyone knows it was Bush.. i mean really?!
A lot of big government types on this thread. Very revealing.
No more phone calls.................we have a winner.
I agree!
By not buying. Duh.
I guess Obama's solution will be more partial-birth abortions to keep there from being parents in the first place to have to deal with this.
If you'd read the thread, you'd have known my kids are 23, 22, and 19. I censored my kids, I didn't depend upon the government to do it. I know my kids better than they do. My oldest is a med student, and I allowed her to watch stuff that I wouldn't let the others watch. My middle is a soldier in Iraq protecting our freedoms. My youngest is still figuring it out. The solution it to get rid of the tv. If enough did, the marketeers would have to rethink their programming options.
Hmmmm......a childish remark. Why am I not surprised?
You really can't connect the concept. Stick around, you might learn stuff.
TV is such a wasteland....it's too easy to turn it off.
I'm not in favor of tinkering toward some hypothetical language that's going to define what we want to see and what we don't want to see.
It's easier to allow choice than it is to police every little scene and parse every little word.
Well duh, I'll bet Rove masterminded it. Thanks, it's been a burning question for 20 years.
That's besides the point.
That's like saying people can perform sex acts on the village green at high noon and if you don't like seeing that or if you don't like your children seeing that then you shouldn't be on the village green at high noon.
How perceptive of you. I'm impressed.
For the same reason we have a BATF -- government has gotten too big for its britches.
You did know you were going to take heat for suggesting that the gov't has any role to play in this at all, right? Anyway, I am with you. The issue is not censorship, but the ability to selectively control what comes into your home. Using a on/off button is not selective and there should be better options.
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