Violence: The New Indecency?

VIOLENCE: THE NEW INDECENCY?
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In recent years, as lawmakers have focused on flashes of skin and profanity, TV violence has become not only more pervasive but more graphic -- even cartoonish in its gore. While the TV industry perennially tests regulators’ elusive definitions of indecency, critics and creators alike say the forces are now aligning for a crackdown on TV carnage. The FCC is readying a report, two years in the making, prompted by, among others, the current chairmen of the House Commerce Committee and the Telecommunications subcommittee. Among the issues the report addresses are the negative effects on kids of cumulative viewing, the limits on the FCC’s power to regulate violence, and the definition of “harmful” TV violence. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin may be looking to distribute the report before a Feb. 1 FCC oversight hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee. The House will probably hold a similar hearing soon after. While there are constitutional hurdles to regulating violence, they’re not insurmountable if Congress wants to give the FCC the authority.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6408809.html?display=Features

* FCC Commissioners Review TV Violence Report
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6408818.html?display=Breaking...

* Washington may take up TV violence
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-violence22jan22,1,359...

* The Chilling Field
[B&C editorial staff] "Hear us clearly. We're unalterably opposed to any legislation or regulation that would let the government tell networks what we should be watching. We are quite sure there has never been a more effective censor than the On-Off switch. There are no better regulators than viewers themselves when they choose to act on their judgment, armed with new tools provided by the industry. The V-chip, which once appeared to be a threat to edgy programming, could be its salvation. But the FCC and Congress may again gang up on the networks over violence. Even if no laws are passed, the potential to chill content is a clear and present danger.".... "Where violence is gratuitous or unnecessarily graphic, programmers better fix it. But neither Congress nor the FCC should take that job away from them."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6408863.html?display=Opinion