Parents Television Council controversies

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The Parents Television Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates what they deem to be moral, family-friendly programming on television, has been frequently criticized for inaccurate reporting and alleged hypocrisy. Additionally, it has encountered some controversy over its actions.

Contents 1 WWE criticism 2 Influence on indecency regulation 3 Allegations of inaccuracy 3.1 V-Chip 3.2 2006 children's television report 3.3 Grand Theft Auto 4 4 Other criticisms 4.1 Hypocrisy 4.2 Homophobia 5 References 6 See also

[edit] WWE criticism

During the PTC campaign against WWF SmackDown! in 2001, fans of the show launched their own campaigns against the PTC.^[1][2] Fans from across the world joined in to fight the attempted censorship of SmackDown by a group with a conservative religious agenda, boycotting advertisers who stopped advertising on SmackDown at the request of the PTC, the reverse of the PTC's efforts to boycott advertisers who did buy airtime on Smackdown.^[3] This was estimated to have a huge financial impact on the advertisers, more so than a PTC boycott.^[4]

Additionally, in the epilogue to his 2001 memoir Foley is Good: And The Real World is Faker Than Wrestling, WWE wrestler Mick Foley criticized the PTC and founder Bozell for its biased reporting on the media and accusations that SmackDown caused violence.^[5] In addition, SmackDown! established a faction called "Right to Censor", abbreviated RTC similarly to the Parents Television Council's "PTC" abbreviation, mocking the PTC.^[6]

[edit] Influence on indecency regulation

According to various standards and practices executives, prior to the formation of the PTC, complaints to the Federal Communications Commission were extremely rare, and fines were only levied in extreme situations.^[7] Following the formation of the PTC, FCC-issued fines have risen to an all-time high due to lobbying by members of the PTC or visitors to their Web pages.^[8] For example, in March 2006, PTC complaints led to 111 CBS affiliates being altogether fined $3.63 million USD for airing an episode of Without a Trace about teen orgies, titled "Our Sons and Daughters". The episode in question, which aired on New Year's Eve of 2004 at 10:00 P.M. in the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones (9:00 P.M. in the Mountain and Central time zones)^[9] with a "TV-14-LSV" rating, was a repeat of an earlier airing from November 2003 that received 7,500 complaints from the PTC that were dismissed November 2004 in a settlement between Viacom (then-owners of CBS) and the FCC. Following the New Year's Eve airing of the episode, the PTC placed a single clip extracted from the episode on their Web site, designating the broadcast the "Worst TV Show of the Week".^[10] The same clip from the Without a Trace episode that the PTC used in their campaign to complain to the FCC about the episode was also used by the PTC earlier in their compilation "TV's Worst Clips, 2001-2004" in which the council showcased the increasing amount of profanity, sex, and violence on TV.^[11] Later, on January 12, 2005, the PTC started a campaign for complaints against the episode,^[12] with the American Family Association doing a similar campaign;^[13] thus, the FCC began receiving complaints,^[7] the majority of them coming from those who learned of the episode first through the PTC or AFA, as opposed to watching the broadcast.^[14] The FCC justified their fine, citing that the "explicit and lengthy nature of the depictions of sexual activity, including apparent intercourse, goes well beyond what the story line could reasonably be said to require" and "the scene is all the more shocking because it depicts minors engaged in sexual activities".^[15] CBS argued against the fine, claiming the plot to be "socially relevant...warning parents to exercise greater supervision of their teenage children" and claimed that parents could easily prevent their children from watching the program, given that Without a Trace was aired at the last hour of prime-time and parents could use the V-Chip to prevent their children from watching the "TV-14"-rated program.^[16]

The PTC was also criticized for advocating Internet censorship, after demanding that the uncensored video of a Saturday Night Live skit "Dick in a Box", which used 16 instances of a profanity that were bleeped out on the television version, be removed, because the uncensored video was available only online and parents could easily prevent their children from viewing the uncensored online video through proper supervision.^[17]

[edit] Allegations of inaccuracy

[edit] V-Chip

The logic of this organization has been questioned, given the development of the V-Chip, the introduction of a television ratings system and the viewer's ability simply to watch other programming on television or not watch with children. Frederick S. Lane, author of the 2006 book The Decency Wars: The Campaign to Cleanse American Culture, and the organization Television Watch support such arguments, claiming that decency is strictly a personal and parental responsibility, not of the government or PTC, and that the views of the PTC do not necessarily reflect the views of the majority of Americans. Regarding the V-Chip, however, the organization has repeatedly countered in recent reports that the networks offering of inaccurate ratings of their shows make the V-Chip useless^[18][19][20] and few parents know about the V-Chip.^[21] In addition, a PTC study in April 2007 revealed that networks frequently omit content descriptors from their ratings, making the V-Chip ineffective.^[20] However, TV Watch has argued that the PTC fails to point out that parents also actively monitor their children's television viewing personally, the majority of FCC complaints filed through their website are filed by website visitors who have never even seen the programming the PTC claimed as inappropriate, and that most polled Americans believe that parents should monitor their children's TV viewing, not the government.^[22] However, the PTC cites a Pew Research Center study that claims that most parents want stricter government control of broadcast decency and higher FCC fines yet do not understand the TV Parental Guidelines very well.^[23] However, TV Watch points out several more inaccuracies in the PTC's reports criticizing the V-Chip, including that the PTC puts too much emphasis on content descriptors when analyzing TV Parental Guidelines, as they are simply intended to supplement the ratings, the V-Chip can work based on the age-based ratings alone without the content descriptors, and that the PTC uses other flawed methodologies in their research.^[24] Additionally, PTC parenting columnist Rod Gustafson has published a column on the PTC website encouraging parents to learn how to use the V-Chip, which is ironic given that the PTC has constantly said that the chip is a failure.^[25] TV Watch also questioned the PTC's definition of "obscene" words in their study. The Progress and Freedom Foundation also questioned the logic of the PTC including households without children in their survey over V-Chip usage, as adults-only households would not sufficiently hold interest in the V-Chip.^[26]

[edit] 2006 children's television report

In 2006, the PTC also came under criticism for a report^[27] it released documenting the increase in potentially violent, profane, and sexual content in children's programming titled Wolves in Sheep's Clothing.^[28] Jim Dyke, executive director of organization Television Watch that has frequently criticized the PTC for poor reporting, claimed that parents were responsible for preventing their children from exposure towards violence and other potentially harmful content.^[29] The New York Daily News also claimed that the report misinterpreted many of the shows that they analyzed. One show that the PTC allegedly misinterpreted was the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Sailor Mouth". The episode originally aired during the 2001-2002 television season, ironically the season in which the PTC named SpongeBob SquarePants among the best programs on cable television,^[30] but the report cited a repeat broadcast of the episode from 2005 to prove that it promoted use of profanity among children, but a countering report argued that the episode went against the use of profanity and the PTC failed to say whether they thought it went against the use of profanity or not.^[31]

[edit] Grand Theft Auto 4

During the PTC's campaign over the video game Grand Theft Auto 4, Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star newspaper revealed Dan Isett, public policy director of the PTC, lying about certain features of the game.^[32]

[edit] Other criticisms

[edit] Hypocrisy

It has also been revealed that certain members of the PTC Advisory Board "do not appear to practice what they preach" despite their stances on morality; those such members include Susan Howard for her role in the 1980s soap opera Dallas that was known for its depiction of drugs and alcohol as well as sexual and violent content and Bruce Jarchow for his appearances in violent films like The Puppet Masters and the sitcom Married...With Children, which the PTC ranked^[33] as the worst primetime program for family viewing in 1997.^[34]

In addition, it was also pointed out that the Marketplace section of the PTC website sold WWF-related merchandise via PTC sponsor Toys "R" Us with a percentage of the sale going directly to the PTC, thus revealing that the PTC was campaigning against yet profiting off the popularity of the WWF.^[35]

[edit] Homophobia

In a December 2005 column of his, Advertising Age columnist Simon Dumenco claimed that the PTC is homophobic because of its criticisms in the past condemning homosexuality on television and media.^[36] Such criticisms have regarded the NBC sitcom Will & Grace,^[37] PBS documentary It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School for a "pro-gay" bias,^[38] Marvel Comics,^[39] a documentary covering same-sex marriage on the Bravo Network,^[40] and the GLAAD for attempting to "promote" homosexuality.^[41] The PTC has denied such allegations, claiming that they are "not homophobic", but simply opposed to "sexual references or innuendo (of any variety, hetero, homo or other) aired where children might be exposed to them."^[36]

Brent Bozell also claimed in one of his weekly columns that "When a show can win both a Family Television Award and a Media Award from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, as Ugly Betty has, you know there’s something wrong".

However, the PTC has also condemned homophobia in the media as well, such as in a review for the controversial computer game Postal²^[42] and a criticism against the NARAS for allowing the rapper Eminem to perform in the Grammy Awards in 2001 due to his "violent, homophobic, and misogynistic" lyrics.^[43][44]

Seth McFarlane, creator of the FOX network animated sitcom Family Guy, a show that PTC has been noted for criticizing frequently, also accused PTC of homophobia in a January 2008 interview with LGBT magazine The Advocate.^[45] Several days after the interview was circulated throughout the Internet blogosphere, former PTC president Bozell again came to PTC's defense, explaining that PTC "simply wants to restore a sense of decency" to television.^[46]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Media bias in the United States
• Parents Television Council
• Right to Censor, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) parody of the PTC
• Television Watch, organization that has prominently criticized PTC