Ethics Newsline®

From the Pew Research Center:

“Americans have ambivalent views about the appropriate role for government in curbing sex, violence, and indecency in the entertainment media. They have doubts about the effectiveness of government action, and believe that public pressure — in the form of complaints and boycotts -¡ is a better way of dealing with the problem. They also blame audiences more than the media industry for objectionable material. Significantly, Americans see greater danger in the government’s imposing undue restrictions on the entertainment industry, than in the industry producing harmful content (by 48 percent vs. 41 percent).

“Nonetheless, there is broad public support for several proposals now being considered for curbing indecent material in the media. Fully 75 percent favor tighter enforcement of government rules on TV content during hours when children are most likely to be watching. Sizable majorities also back other anti-indecency proposals currently before Congress, including steeper fines (69 percent) and extending network standards for indecency to cable television (60 percent).

“The latest Pew Research Center nationwide survey, conducted among 1,505 Americans from March 17-21, finds that the tug of war in public opinion about government regulation of entertainment reflects political and religious divides about the issue.

“For example, on the fundamental question of whether undue government restrictions ¡ or harmful content ¡ presents the greater danger, a solid majority of conservative Republicans (57 percent) cite harmful entertainment. Liberal Democrats, by contrast, overwhelmingly believe excessive government restrictions are the larger concern (by 72 percent-21 percent). Similarly, while 51 percent of white evangelical Protestants say offensive entertainment presents a greater danger than undue government restriction, just 27 percent of seculars agree.

“There also is a significant generation gap, both in attitudes toward government regulation and in opinions about what constitutes offensive content. Americans 50 and older register much higher levels of personal concern than do younger adults about different types of TV material, and are more likely to view harmful content as a bigger problem than intrusive government restrictions. By contrast, those under 30 view excessive government restrictions as a far greater danger than harmful content.

“Despite these divisions, however, there are a number of points of broad national agreement on issues relating to entertainment and the government’s role in reducing offensive content:

“Most Americans say parents are primarily to blame when children are exposed to explicit sex or graphic violence. Fully 79 percent say inadequate parental supervision ¡- rather than inadequate laws -¡ is mostly responsible for children being exposed to that sort of offensive material; there are no significant political or religious differences on this point. And by more than ten-to-one (86 percent-8 percent), the public believes that parents, rather than the entertainment industry, bear the most responsibility for keeping children from seeing sex and violence in TV and movies….

“Pew’s survey on entertainment also highlights the changing nature of the public’s concerns over media content. Americans these days are troubled by much more than sex and violence ¡- in fact, sex and violence do not even top the list of people’s personal concerns over TV. Nearly half (46 percent) say they are personally bothered a lot by TV programs showing depictions of illegal drug use, while 38 percent voice a high level of concern over reality programs in which real people are tricked or made fun of….

“Despite the recent string of controversies over sex and violence in the media, however, the overall image of the entertainment industry has not eroded in recent years. Currently, 60 percent say they have a favorable opinion of the motion picture and TV entertainment industry, which marks little change from 2001 (58 percent) or 1999 (60 percent). A comparable majority (55 percent) has a positive opinion of the recording and music industry.

“But the public continues to have low regard for video games manufacturers. Only about a third (34 percent) have a favorable view of the makers of video games, about the same as in June 1999….”