Children advocates, NAB clash on FCC policy for kids TV

CHILDREN ADVOCATES, NAB CLASH ON FCC POLICY FOR KIDS
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) may give television high marks for children's educational programming, but a group of public interest advocates say that the industry has yet to make the honor roll. On September 4th, both the NAB and the Children's Media Policy Coalition (CMPC) filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission, offering dramatically different assessments of the state of children's educational TV. "Broadcasters are providing an abundance of high quality, diverse programming that amply meets the educational and informational needs of children," the NAB filing concludes in response to an FCC proceeding on the state of kid's television. But the CMPC doesn't see it that way; the group includes Children Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Benton Foundation, the National PTA, and the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ. The coalition acknowledges that broadcasters generally comply with FCC requirements that they provide three hours a week of educational TV. But they say that beyond that, children's television has a long way to go.
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