Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 28, 1993 TAG: 9307280131
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
The report from the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication suggests that broadcast networks have taken a first step to control the frequency of violence on television - although the number of programs with overall violent themes remains unchanged at 65 percent of all prime-time shows.
The study "shows that the threat of legislation was taken seriously and seems to have had some effect. It's a good beginning," said George Gerbner, the Pennsylvania professor leading the Cultural Indicators research team, which began publishing television violence ratings 20 years ago.
Measuring frequency, character and duration of televised violence in a single number, the study's Violence Index for the 1992-93 prime-time season for ABC, CBS and NBC registered the second lowest since the research began in 1973 (the study did not look at the relatively new Fox network). One part of the index showed that the number of violent acts decreased to 2.9 per hour, the lowest ever in 20 years. The previous year measured 5.1 acts per hour.
Acts of violence also decreased in children's Saturday morning network programming, although the overall violence index increased slightly, in part because a greater percentage of programs involved violent themes.
The research also showed that children's programs on cable television had substantially less violence than network shows. But for adult shows, cable programming was more violent than similar fare on the broadcast networks.
- Chicago Tribune
by CNB