NCJ Number
160254
Date Published
1995
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Media violence, especially that on television, has been controversial for more than 40 years; the government, the networks, and public interest groups have all proposed ways to reduce media violence, but no concrete, effective measures have been implemented.
Abstract
TV violence has traditionally been measured quantitatively by researchers who count incidents of real or threatened physical injury. This essentially gives equal weight to cartoon violence and an armed psychopath shooting multiple holes in a helpless victim. Most such analyses show a fairly stable level of prime- time violence over the past 25 years, i.e., five incidents per hour. Many critics, however, believe there is a more dangerous qualitative change toward violence that seems more realistic and more glamorous. Currently, the most violent content found on the networks is in lurid made-for-television movies, which chronicle everything from the saga of Amy Fisher to the government's siege at David Koresh's facility in Waco, Tex. Network-TV violence peaked in the 1980's with Miami Vice, reruns of which are aired in syndication. Media watchers blame cable and its unedited Hollywood movies for the violence problem. This problem has received its current urgency because of the availability of such movies in the home. Children's access to violent Hollywood movies through the cable box or video rentals is of major concern. A number of legislators are apparently determined to find ways to regulate TV violence, particularly on the broadcast networks. Among the proposals are the limiting of the time periods when violent films can be shown, the labeling of shows that contain violence, and the issuing of quarterly reports on TV violence by the Federal Communications Commission.