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The Parents Television Council (PTC) is a US-based nonprofit organization. Its campaigns include cable choice which allows subscribers to select and pay for only those channels they watch, holding advertisers accountable for the television programs their ads support, and trying to protect children from television content they find "harmful and negative." According to various standards and practices executives, the PTC is responsible for the majority of complaints filed with the FCC, with its own members filing tens of thousands of complaints per year, a number which does not include complaints filed with the FCC by non-members through the PTC webpage.

The website of the PTC features reports on harmful content on television and regular writings from its staff, including the weekly column by founder L. Brent Bozell, a "Culture Watch" feature, and a column on parenting authored by Rod Gustafson. In addition, the council does research on other forms of popular culture marketed to children and teenagers, such as video games, music, movies, and the Internet and sites including Myspace. Their research is done with the support of their archive of prime-time television programming that they claim is the largest in the world.

The PTC's activities extend to evaluation, rating, and educating around broadcast TV programs according to a "traffic light" system across three categories of Sex, Violence and Profanity, accumulating to an overall rating based on the ratings of these three categories. A green light indicates that the program is "appropriate for all ages", a yellow light indicates that that the program is "appropriate for jr. high schoolers and older", and a red light indicates that the program is "appropriate for adult audiences only"

Every television season, the council releases a list of the best and worst prime-time television programs for family viewing based on their traffic light system ; on Fridays, it releases television listings of the major American networks for the next seven days highlighting programming based on the system. A highlight in blue indicates the council has yet to evaluate the program. They also lead a national advocacy effort to make people aware of what they consider offensive program content through local chapters in most American media markets, in addition to their main headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Council also recently released a report on Spanish programming on the major Spanish networks serving the United States, Telemundo and Univision, claiming that programming on those networks tends to have more sexual content but less profanity or violence than on English-language networks.

The counterpart to the PTC in the UK is Mediawatch, an organisation apparently having a membership of some 40,000 people, but which has a much smaller impact than its American cousin.

Leadership

PTC was founded in 1995 by longtime political activist L. Brent Bozell III. Bozell is a prominent conservative activist who has, among other things, served as Executive Director of the Conservative Victory Committee, a political action committee that has supported the election of dozens of conservative candidates over the past ten years. He was also National Finance Chairman for Pat Buchanan's 1992 presidential campaign, and later President of the National Conservative Political Action Committee.

Bozell was succeeded as PTC President by Timothy F. Winter , a self-described liberal, in January 2007. Winter served as Executive Director of the PTC for three years prior to becoming president. Prior to joining the PTC, Mr. Winter's 20-year career as a media executive included positions with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and NBC.

Campaigns

Over the years, the PTC has launched several campaigns in response to "indecency" on television programs.

Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show

Main article: Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy

PTC's prominence became evident after analysis of complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) underlined in Congressional hearings into the Janet Jackson Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, in which one of Jackson's breasts, covered only by a nipple-shield, was momentarily displayed on network television; FCC chairman Michael Powell stated that the number of indecency complaints to the FCC had risen from 350 in the years 2000 and 2001, to 14,000 in 2002 and 240,000 in 2003.


"Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger" controversy

In May 2005 Carl's Jr. introduced its "Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger" in a television advertisement featuring celebrity Paris Hilton in a swimsuit, soaping up a Bentley automobile while leaning on it, and then eating the burger.

The Parents Television Council and other media watchdog groups criticized the commercial. Melissa Caldwell, PTC's research director, said, "This commercial is basically soft-core porn. The way she moves, the way she puts her finger in her mouth—it's very suggestive and very titillating." The group said they planned to mobilize more than one million members to contact the restaurant chain and voice their concern.

Andy Puzder, CEO of Carl's Jr., says the group needs to "get a life...This isn't Janet Jackson—there is no nipple in this," referring to the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy. He continued, "There is no nudity, there is no sex act — it's a beautiful model in a swimsuit washing a car."

In addition to featuring the ad on their web site, Carl's Jr. also set up another website playing a longer version of the commercial. A similar ad with Hilton for Hardee's hamburger chain was aired in June 2005.

National Nip/Tuck campaign, other campaigns against FX programming

In 2003, the Parents Television Council urged parents to petition Nip/Tuck for its "unbelievable" content. In 2004, they continued, and pushed harder when a threeway scene aired. In 2005, another threeway scene and a significant increase in sexual content caused the Parents Television Council to push Nip/Tuck into a national campaign, urging advertisers to cease sponsorship of the program. In a letter to the PTC, a Mitsubishi Motors executive responded, “We certainly have no desire to offend consumers with our advertising, which is meant to entertain and inform potential customers about the benefits of purchasing our products. With this in mind, we have decided to discontinue advertising on ‘Nip/Tuck.’” Thirty other advertisers pulled their advertising from the show.

Currently, the PTC holds campaigns protesting other programs on FX, including Dirt and Rescue Me .

Cable choice

The PTC is an avid supporter of "a la carte" cable television services to allow families to choose only the cable television channels that are appropriate for their children. Frequently, the Council has criticized programs on MTV, Comedy Central, and FX because they claim some of the content aired on those channels are inappropriate for younger viewers. The PTC's contempt against MTV is even higher because they claim that most MTV programming contains far too much profanity (including bleeped words) and other content inappropriate for its intended teenage audience. Recently, the organization has also pointed out the increase in racism on cable programming, among other programs Don Imus's comments regarding the Rutgers University women's basketball team on his radio program Imus in the Morning simulcast on MSNBC and the episode of Comedy Central's South Park that used "nigger" 42 times uncensored, as support for their cable choice campaign. It should be noted that Imus in the Morning has been canceled altogether from TV and radio.

On the other side of the issue, the PTC has awarded its "Seal of Approval" to cable networks Disney Channel and Hallmark Channel for their family-friendly original programs.

WWE lawsuit and claims retractions

WWF/WWE

In 2000, the PTC launched a campaign against professional wrestling organization World Wrestling Entertainment, then known as the WWF, complaining that their programming contained levels of sexuality and violence unbecoming primetime programming. As part of the campaign, Brent Bozell claimed that he could prove the WWE's Thursday night program, SmackDown!, and by extension the WWE itself, was directly responsible for the deaths of four children. Bozell and various PTC members began meeting with representatives of the advertising departments of various companies that advertising on SmackDown!, informing them that they were advertising on a program which had "caused deaths." At one point, the PTC boasted that, due to their campaign, between 30 and 40 of the WWE's advertisers had pulled their commercials from WWE programming.

In response to the PTC's campaign, the WWE filed a lawsuit against the organization, claiming that the PTC's statements were false and constited defamation. In addition, WWE filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the PTC when it was discovered that the group had been using clips from WWE programs in promotional videos being mailed to corporations as a means of promotion the PTC. The PTC did not initially issue a public response, instead filing that the suit be dismissed ; the request was denied, partially in response to a judge's finding that the companies the PTC claimed they had influenced to pull advertising from WWE programs had in fact never even advertised with the company. Rather than go to trial, the PTC settled out of court.

As part of the settlement agreement, the PTC paid WWE $3.5 million USD and issued a public apology, acknowledging that they had lied about WWE being responsible for four children's deaths. In addition, founder Brent Bozell wrote a personal letter of apology to WWE owner Vince McMahon. Today, no WWE program is included on the PTC's webpage's list of offensive programs.

Criticism

With the impact they have on the media, the Parents Television Council has the subject of criticism by critical television viewers across the United States. According to various standards and practices executives, prior to the formation of the PTC, complaints to the FCC were extremely rare, and fines were only levied in extreme situations. 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; in 2006, the PTC was responsible for 100 CBS affiliates being fined $100 million USD for airing an episode of Without a Trace about teen orgies. The episode in question, which aired on New Year's Eve, 2004, was a repeat of an earlier airing; the original airing received no complaints. For two weeks following the episode's New Year's Eve airing, no complaints were filed against the episode; it wasn't until PTC placed a single clip extracted from the episode on their webpage in early 2005 that the FCC began receiving complaints, all of them through the PTC.

The PTC has been accused of conservative bias as although their stated goal is to guide parents about whether television programming is appropriate for children, the PTC goes beyond that goal by lobbying the FCC for indecency enforcement or advertisers to stop advertising on the inappropriate show. 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 TV 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 countered in recent reports that the networks offering inaccurate ratings of their shows make the V-Chip useless and few parents know about the V-Chip . However, TV Watch has argued that the PTC fails to point out that parents also actively monitor their children's television viewing by means not of a V-Chip or similar device, 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.

Inaccurate, biased reporting on the media

Other accusations of biases includes their tendency to make biased, inaccurate statements and take taboo subject matter of certain television shows out of context. For example, its criticism against Cartoon Network for allowing its late-night block of adult-themed cartoons, Adult Swim, which normally begins 10:30 PM in the Eastern Time Zone, to air at 8:30 PM in the Mountain Time Zone without regards to airtime differences within cable television and satellite television, as normally networks airing within the Mountain Time Zone air shows promoted in the Central Time Zone time delayed locally.

The council has also made numerous criticisms against Comedy Central's adult-themed, satirical animated series South Park without examining the episode's context or examining it in a shallow manner. In November 2004, the Council released a study on violence, sex, and profanity on cable television channels . Among the programs mentioned in the study were the South Park episode "It Hits the Fan", which used the expletive shit 161 times, and the even more profane movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (although its extremely profane content led Comedy Central to air the movie uncensored only after midnight Saturdays in its "Secret Stash" block of programming that is not promoted during the daytime). No context was given whatsoever of these episodes, which would have made the episodes more acceptable to the council as well as to readers of the PTC web site. More recently, despite reports on mass media outlets including on CNN’s Showbiz Tonight claiming that the episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" used racial epithet "nigger" for a message against racism, the PTC still included that episode in their "Worst Cable Content of the Week" as of March 14, 2007 (the content having been removed from the PTC website afterwards for copyright reasons) as support for their campaign for “a la carte” cable television services. Not only did the PTC include the use of the racial slur as evidence, but also scenes that included a character's exposed buttocks and other profanities.

Homophobia

Some critics, such as Advertising Age columnist Simon Dumenco, have been quick to point out that the PTC is homophobic because of its criticisms in the past condemning homosexuality on television and media, such as criticisms against the NBC sitcom Will & Grace , Marvel Comics , a documentary covering same-sex marriage on the Bravo Network , and the GLAAD for attempting to promote homosexuality as "moral" . The PTC has denied such allegations in the December 26, 2005 edition of their weekly "Culture Watch" feature, 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." In fact the PTC has actually condemned homophobia in the media as well, such as in a review for the controversial computer game Postal 2. Generally, the organization also opposes the use on television and media of the epithets "faggot" and "dyke" that are used to insult gays and lesbians, respectively.

Favor for Judeo-Christian religions

Primarily, the organization protests disrespect of Judeo-Christian religions only. L. Brent Bozell wrote in his column that the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy was "silly" and called those cartoons "comparatively mild" without regards to Islamic beliefs regarding depicting the sacred prophet of Muhammad. However, Bozell has also written a column condemning programming on Comedy Central that he alleges insults Islam.

Criticism of L. Brent Bozell

Main article: L. Brent Bozell § Criticism

PTC founder and former president L. Brent Bozell has been criticized for his conservative views on the media within the PTC as well as in the Media Research Center. Criticisms toward him include allegations of "fighting the First Amendment" and cursing at liberal commentator Paul Waldman after argument over Waldman's views on The O'Reilly Factor.

References

  1. Rice, Lynette. "No CENSORED!" Entertainment Weekly. 11 May 2007: 43
  2. "Saving the World's Largest Archive of Prime-Time Television". Parents Television Council. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
  6. {{cite web url = http://web.archive.org/web/20050908045219/http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/aboutus/winterbio.htm | title = Biography for Tim Winter | work = ParentsTV.org | date = 2007-05-05}}
  7. "Recent Victories". Parents Television Council. Retrieved April 15, 2007.
  8. "PTC Says Racist and Anti-Semitic Cable Fare Underscores Need for Cable Choice". Parents Television Council. Retrieved April 11, 2007.
  9. PTC Awards Disney for Family-Friendly Advertising Practices. Parents Television Council. March 8, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
  10. {{cite web url = http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reviews/naomisnewmorning.asp title = Parents Television Council Reviews - Naomi's New Morning date = 2007-05-04 work = ParentsTV.org
  11. Judge rejects Parents Television Council motion to Dismiss Lawsuit. 24 May 2001.
  12. Farhi, Paul. TV Watchdog Apologizes for False Claims On Wrestling. The Washington Post. 9 July 2002. Page C01
  13. Judge rejects Parents Television Council motion to Dismiss Lawsuit. 24 May 2001.
  14. Farhi, Paul. TV Watchdog Apologizes for False Claims On Wrestling. The Washington Post. 9 July 2002. Page C01
  15. World Wrestling Entertainment Settles Lawsuit With Parents Television Council; Founder Brent Bozell Issues Apology. 8 July 2002.
  16. Farhi, Paul. TV Watchdog Apologizes for False Claims On Wrestling. The Washington Post. 9 July 2002. Page C01
  17. Rice, Lynette. "No CENSORED!" Entertainment Weekly. 11 May 2007: 43
  18. Rice, Lynette. "No CENSORED!" Entertainment Weekly. 11 May 2007: 43
  19. PTC Study Finds TV Ratings System A Failure. Parents Television Council. April 18, 2005. Retrieved April 6, 2007.
  20. I Want My Foul TV:More Evidence Proving Cable Industry Campaign to Promote Responsibility is a Sham. Parents Television Council. August 11, 2005. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  21. New PTC Report Gives TV Networks an "F" for Failing to Accurately Rate Their Programs. Parents Television Council. April 16, 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  22. PTC Declares the Industry's V-Chip Education Campaign a Failure. Parents Television Council. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
  23. Parents Want Control of TV. TV Watch. March 15, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  24. L. Brent Bozell. "South Park" and "Popetown". Parents Television Council. April 20, 2006. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  25. L. Brent Bozell. Madonna's Crucifixion Circus Act. Parents Television Council]]. September 21, 2006. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  26. L. Brent Bozell. Comedy Central's War on Christmas. December 22, 2005. Retrieved April 22, 2007.

See also

External links

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