I had an interesting
conversation during a meeting with the head of standards
at a major TV network recently. This is the man who has
the final say on which jokes about sex and bodily functions
will make it into an episode of a popular sitcom. He makes
the final decision on which scenes of a grisly murder scene
will be shown in an episode of a long-running police drama.
He is also the person who gave the go-ahead for a program
to air a certain four-letter word (it rhymes with hit) for
the first time ever on his network in prime time. Naturally,
something he said during our conversation shocked me-but
it wasn't what you might expect.
Before I go any further with my conversation at the TV
network, I should explain something I've noticed when talking
to parents about television: increasingly, parents find
the entertainment on television to be offensive and at odds
with the values they try to teach to their kids.
A lot of parents have the perception the TV networks don't
listen to parents. This is true-most networks are making
most of their self-censorship decisions without the aid
of parent input. However, the reason behind this isn't what
it seems. The TV networks aren't listening to parents because
parents aren't telling the networks what they think!
In my conversation with the head of standards I learned
that every time they make a decision to air content they
know is controversial, they prepare for a substantial public
backlash. More and more often there's no backlash to speak
of. In fact, there's not even a whimper of disapproval from
parents.
The decision to admit the s-word on the air was a difficult
one, according to the head of standards. He kept telling
the producers of the show that they should cut it out of
the episode-they kept telling him it was necessary for the
power of the story. When he finally decided let them use
the word, he told the producers to prepare for a massive
public outcry. The number of complaints they received is
truly alarming: zero.
At the network I visited they assured me they are eager
to hear from parents, but because they never do, they've
come to assume parents don't care. Until network executives
hear differently, they'll continue to make the decisions
about what is appropriate for prime time on their own.
We can have a substantial impact on the standards of appropriateness
for network TV. All we have to do is tell the networks what
the standards should be.
David Walsh, Ph.D. is the president and
founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family
(www.mediafamily.org).
He has written seven books and is a frequent guest on national
radio and television
