Media indecency And Public Opinion

Here is an information list I received that I thought was interesting. If so many are against indecency why are they so impotent in stopping it? Ans. Because of compromise. Indecency applies to what the other guy does. Not to what I do....

MEDIA INDECENCY AND PUBLIC OPINION

* According to a N.Y. Times/CBS News Poll (11/23/04), 70% of adult Americans are worried that “popular culture – that is, television, movies and music – is lowering the moral standards of the country.”
* According to a national survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation (9/23/04), 89% of parents are “concerned about children’s exposure to inappropriate content in entertainment media, especially on TV.”
* According to a national survey by the Barna Group (7/26/04), only 15% of adults support allowing “the ‘F-word’ on broadcast TV.”
* According to a Chicago Tribune poll (7/4/04), 58% of adults “approve of heavy FCC fines of radio stations due to broadcasts they consider indecent.”
* According to the State of the First Amendment Survey, released by the First Amendment Center (6/29/04), 65% of adults think “government should have the power to regulate during the morning, afternoon and early evening hours those broadcast television programs that contain references to sexual activity.”
* In a national survey conducted by Nielsen (4/29/04), 78% of American families who had recently been part of the Nielsen “People Meter” panel wanted more shows “without profanity or swear words.”
* In a national opinion poll for TV Guide (8/2/03), 57% of TV viewers said they “noticed an increase in offensive material on television lately.”
* In a national opinion poll for Common Sense (“New Attempt to Monitor Media Content,” NY Times, 5/21/03), 64% of parents with at lease one child between the ages of 2 and 17 believed media products in general were inappropriate for their families. Only one in five “full trusted” the industry-controlled ratings.
* In a national survey by Public Agenda (“Parent’s feel they’re failing to teach values,” USA TODAY, 10/30/02), “about 90% [of parents] say TV programs are getting worse every year because of bad language and adult themes in show that air from 8 to 10 p.m.”
* In a national FAMILY CIRCLE poll (10/8/02), 67% of those surveyed said they are worried about the amount of sex on TV and 69% believe TV sex is increasing. When asked about specific scenes in programs such as Sopranos, The Shield, West Wing, and Sex in the City. Large percentages (from 48% to 76%) found the scenes “unacceptable.”
* In a national FAMILY CIRCLE poll (5/15/01), 72% of men and women said there is too much sex in media, and 77% said there is a problem with sexual content on TV.
* In a national study from Universal McCann Media Research (Media Wire, 8/21/00), 35% of all adult Americans, regardless of whether or not they live with children, report viewing TV content “in the past few weeks” that they find personally offensive or morally objectionable, and such material is more commonly reported as “profane language, sexually suggestive language and situations and excessive violence. “Curiously, most Americans remember seeing this offensive material on the established networks even though these outlets are subject to stricter regulation than other viewing sources, like basic cable.”
* In a national opinion poll for Annenberg Public Policy Center (6/26/2000), “more parents” were concerned about children’s TV use than any other medium and 43% of families could not name one TV program they encourage their children to watch.
* In a national opinion poll for USA TODAY (9/24/99), adults were asked what most bothered them about network TV: 45% said sexual situations or lewd/profane language.
* In a national opinion poll for the Kaiser Family Foundation (5/10/99), 87% of parents were concerned about sexual content on TV and 84% about adult language.
* In a national opinion poll for Morality in Media (2/12/98), 59% of adult Americans thought the FCC needed to work harder to enforce the broadcast indecency law; only 28% thought a rating system and V-Chip combination would be an effective alternative.
* In a national study for Broadcasting & Cable (10/20/97), adults gave TV a letter grade based on how well TV fulfills its role “to teach character and values to children and teens.” The results: 10% gave As; 13% Bs; 25% Cs; 22% Ds and 29% Fs.


Prepared by Morality in Media, Inc., 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-3222 mim@moralityinmedia.org