Children & Media Center Slams PTC Study

[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The American Center for Children and Media, a group representing commercial and noncommercial producers/distributors, is highly critical of the Parents Television Council study, released Thursday, that purported to show that kids TV was awash in violence, cussing, and sexuality. "The Parents Television Council report on children’s TV is truly stunning," ACCM says. "Its methodology might best be analogized to an episode from the sitcom Third Rock from the Sun, in which the character Harry runs a video store. Asked by confused customers about his cataloging system, he points and says, “Things I liked, things I didn't like, things I haven't seen. The PTC created a review system that isolates ­ totally out of context ­ any word or behavior that falls outside its narrow boundaries of good taste. Their laundry list of “problematic behaviors” and taboos involving “social institutions” (friendship?) is so constricting that any show meeting their Puritan standards would be devoid of drama or humor." Board members of ACCM include Disney, Cartoon Network (both of which were singled out in the PTC survey), Nickelodeon, Discovery Kids, PBS, and Sesame Workshop
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