WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuter) - Vice President Al Gore on
Thursday hailed a voluntary agreement by major U.S. television
networks to add content to the age-based rating system and
urged NBC, which rejected the change, to join.
"Today, America's parents have won back their living
rooms," Gore said as he announced the agreement between the
television industry and advocacy groups at a White House
ceremony.
Major broadcast and cable networks agreed to add a content
rating coding system to the age-based rating system started in
December. The ratings include the letter "S" for sex, "L" for
coarse language, "V" for violence and "D" for suggestive
dialogue.
The major broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS and Fox -- agreed
to the changes. But NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., said
it would not use the voluntary code for its programs.
"NBC is disappointed that the industry capitulated to
political and special-interest pressure, and did not look more
seriously at the implications of the flawed process in which
they engaged," NBC said in a statement.
The network said it was concerned "the ultimate aim of the
current system's critics is to dictate programming content. ...
There is no place for government involvement in what people
watch on television."
Gore said he hoped the network would change its mind.
"I would encourage NBC to join the national consensus. I
hope that they will," he said. "I think that the chances are
good that, after the dust settles and passions cool a little
bit and people see how this is going to work in practice, they
will join the national consensus."
He said the new codes will help parents control what their
children are watching on television.
"This agreement puts the 'V' back in the V-chip and it will
also give parents the information they need when to know when
cartoons or fantasy programs contain violence," Gore said.
The ratings are designed to work in conjunction with the
V-chip, a piece of microcircuitry that will be inside of almost
every new television set starting next year. The V-chip will
allow parents to program their sets to screen out any shows
with content they do not want their children to see.
Parents' groups and other organizations, including the
American Medical Association, mounted a campaign to revise the
ratings system. They argued that ratings such as "TV-PG", which
means parental guidance suggested, did not give enough
information about program content.
Executives from the National Cable Television Association,
National Association of Broadcasters and the Motion Picture
Association bowed to the pressure and agreed to change the
ratings system after an emotional town meeting in Peoria, Ill.,
on May 19. Some 300 families voiced concern about program
content.
After weeks of negotiations by advocacy groups and
television executives, the deal was clinched when lawmakers
gave the industry written assurances that they would not pursue
legislation on program content for a substantial period.
Industry leaders and advocacy groups said they would work to
educate viewers about the new system and encourage publishers
of TV magazines and newspapers to include ratings in their
listings.
"Therefore, we urge governmental leaders to allow this
process to proceed unimpeded by pending or new legislation that
would undermine the intent of this agreement or disrupt the
harmony and good faith of the process," industry and advocacy
groups said in a joint statement.
Sen. Fritz Hollings, Democrat of South Carolina, said he
opposed the agreement and would continue to push for a
congressional vote on his proposed legislation to make content
rating mandatory.
Copyright 1997, Reuters News Service |
