Archive Index: November 2005
Archive: November 2005
Obama Sends Testimony to Decency Forum
Editor's Note: The Senate Commerce Committee yesterday heard from 25 media executives and experts, including Common Sense CEO Jim Steyer, at an open forum about decency in media.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama submitted written testimony to the Committee because he was unable to attend in person. Below is an excerpt from that testimony:
"Holiday Present Price Creep" Plagues Parents
It’s been the year of the creep. We’ve had movie “ratings creep” where today’s PG-13 movie looks a lot like last year’s R rated one. More adult content has crept into the traditional family hour on TV. Images have crept into cell phones and we had the creep of the Adult Only content into the M rated Grand Theft Auto.
Now we have holiday present price creep. Since when did it become the norm for us to consider buying our children media devices that cost hundreds of dollars?
Two Cents on New 50 Cent Video Game
Popular rapper 50 Cent told a reporter this week that parents should buy their kids his new video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof despite the fact that the game received an M rating, meaning it is not suitable for anyone under 17.
"Just because it is rated mature doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it for your kids," 50 Cent told Reuters. "Play the game and explain to them what they are playing."
What was this guy thinking? Is 50 Cent really that clueless? Or, is he just a shameless huckster?
Importance of Sex on TV study shouldn't be overlooked
The findings of the Kaiser study on sex in the media are very important. They confirm what many casual viewers of TV suspect: Television is becoming increasingly sex-saturated, and the increase in both the number of shows involving sex and the number of sexual episodes per program is substantial. Although there is very little research on the impact of sexual media depictions on youth (partially because it is almost impossible to get funding), what research there is confirms that young viewers’ attitudes, and sometimes their behaviors are influenced by the sexual behavior that is shown and talked about on TV.