- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - America's
children are being exposed to more violence and swearing on television
during the evening ''Family Hour,'' and while there is less sexual content
per hour, prime-time programs are getting raunchier, a report released
on Wednesday found.
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- The Parents Television Council, a group aimed at ``restoring
responsibility to the entertainment industry,'' examined six weeks of programming
during the traditional family hour from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific
time and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Central and Mountain time.
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- The number of swear words in the 2000-01 television season
rose by 78 percent since the council's last study in the 1998-99 season.
The most common vulgarity was the word ``ass,'' appearing on average more
than once an hour, the study found.
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- ``These findings demonstrate beyond any shadow of a doubt
that broadcast television's family hour is more violent and vulgar than
at any time in history,'' said Brent Bozell, president of the council.
-
- The study found foul-language rates would have more than
doubled if the tally were broadened to include mild curses such as ``hell,''
``damn'' and ``crap.''
-
- Violence was shown on average 2.8 times per hour, 70
percent more than the 1998-99 review.
-
- Although the amount of sexual material fell 17 percent
during the family hour in the past two years, shows were more likely to
broadcast sexually explicit material than in previous years.
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- ``Oral sex, pornography and the like are now viewed as
acceptable for the family hour, an hour during which an average of 10 million
children are tuned in each night,'' Bozell said.
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- UPN television network was cited as the worst offender,
with an average of 18.1 instances of offensive content per hour. NBC came
second with a per-hour average rate of 9.1 instances, followed by Fox with
7.8 instances.
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- UPN had three times as much violence as the WB, the second-place
network, the study found. NBC had the highest average for sexual material,
5.7 instances per hour, followed by ABC with an average of 4.8 instances
per hour.
-
- UPN said viewers had the right to make an informed choice
about what they watched.
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- ``At UPN we strongly believe in the viewer's right to
make an informed choice about what they watch, which is why we voluntarily
and clearly label every UPN program with a content rating,'' UPN said in
a statement.
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- Representatives from the other networks could not be
immediately reached for comment.
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- 'TURNING INTO DANGER ZONE'
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- On Capitol Hill, several senators condemned television
networks for doling out sex, violence and bad language during hours when
millions of children were still awake.
-
- Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who
has spearheaded a campaign against violent and sexually explicit material
produced by the entertainment industry, said the report showed how ``sour''
television's traditional family hour had become.
-
- ``The report ... reminds us that what was once a safe
haven is increasingly turning into a danger zone for America's children,''
Lieberman said.
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- He appealed to television networks to reserve the first
hour of prime-time television for programs suitable for people of all ages.
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- ``As we have continually said, we are not seeking censorship,
but good citizenship from an industry, America's broadcasters,'' he said,
adding that parents should turn the television off if they find content
to be inappropriate.
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