IV. Policy Shifts

The broad area of children's television has been a very sensitive issue for Congress and the FCC (Kunkel & Watkins, 1987) because there is extensive and intensive public concern. And, within this broad area of concern, television violence is the most explosive. What can we do about TV violence? I would contend that we know enough about TV violence to warrant action. We know that there is a relationship between TV violence and changes in attitudes and behaviour. As noted earlier, the three main types of effects are: 1) direct effects -- increased aggressive behaviour or willingness to use violence; 2) desensitisation -- increased acceptance of violence as normal; and 3) Mean World Syndrome --increased fearfulness and a belief that the real world is as dangerous as the television world.

The concern about TV violence has a long history and was forcefully enunciated as early as 1961 by the then Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Newton Minow, in his inaugural address to the National Association of Broadcasters. To prepare for that address, Minow had spent a week watching television. Minow's report on this viewing took the following form:

"When television is good, nothing -- not the theatre, not the magazines or newspapers -- nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit-and-loss sheet, or rating book to distract you -- and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland. You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And, endlessly, commercials -- many screaming, cajoling, and offending." (Minow, 1961, cited in Barnouw, 1975, p. 300)

This address was recorded by history as the "vast wasteland" speech, and it became a symbol for television in the 1960's. Minow was to revisit the vast wasteland 30 years later in 1991. Now, speaking as the former chair of the FCC on the thirtieth anniversary of vast wasteland, he observed:

"In 1961, I worried that my children would not benefit much from television, but in 1991, I worry that my grandchildren will actually be harmed by it." (Minow, 1991, p. 12)

However, other FCC chairpersons did not agree with Minow's assessment, and the spirit changed in the 1980's. Mark Fowler, who was appointed in 1981 as the new FCC Chairman, also was asked to give his inaugural address to the National Association of Broadcasters. He approached the task in much the same way as Newton Minow; he sat down and watched a lot of television. But, his view was different. When Chairman Fowler spoke to the NAB, he said, in effect, When I looked at television, I saw a vast richness -- a rich array of programming, a rich array of opportunity -- I did not see a vast wasteland. He suggested that this richness did not require regulation. He observed in an interview in the Washington Post (Mayer, February 6, 1983, p. K-6) that we don't regulate washing machines, we don't regulate dishwashers, television is just another home appliance, it's just a "toaster with pictures."

The two FCC policy statements or "viewpoints" (vast wasteland and toaster with pictures) produced dramatically-different outcomes. Broadcasters were so surprised by Newton Minow's vast wasteland speech that they ultimately agreed to assign large parts of the UHF spectrum to public broadcasting. Mark Fowler's "toaster with pictures" speech resulted in a deregulation of children's television (Geller, 1988) that led to an increase in the amount of advertising on children's television and a violence index rating on Saturday morning children's television that jumped to the highest level of violence in 20 years of monitoring: 32 violent acts per hour.

Now, we have a new Chairman of the FCC who has said on several occasions that he is concerned about the amount of violence on television and has called for a "New Social Compact" to change children's television. The new Chairman, Reed Hundt, noted in a speech to the American Psychological Association in August 1994:

"I am joined in my deep concern about TV violence by many members of Congress. I have discussed the topic with Senators Hollings, Inouye, Simon, Dorgan, Congressman Markey, and many other Members of the House and Senate. In fact, it is one of the issues most frequently raised in my discussions with Congress, and it was the topic of the first question that was addressed to me at my confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee. ... Television has a significant impact on children's lives. That impact is only going to increase as our technology matures and true, interactive video replaces simple television viewing. Social science has documented that television can be an effective educational tool, especially for young children, and our public policies must ensure that this positive potential does not escape us." (Hundt, 1994, pp. 10-13)

It is too early to assess the impact of this "New Social Compact" viewpoint on public policy, but in April 1995, the FCC promulgated a rule-making procedure (Federal Communications Commission, 1995) that would enhance the implementation of the Children's Television Act of 1990. In the proposed rules, broadcasters would be required to air three hours of educational programming for children each week. Thus, we have moved from the "vast wasteland," to the "toaster with pictures," to the "New Social Compact."