‘Highest saturation on cable channels ‘Washington: A yearlong stocky of television programming concludes that “psychologically harmful” violence is pervasive on broadcast and cable programs, ‘The $1.5 million study, paid for by the ‘cable television industry, was based on a scientifically selected sample of about 2,500 hours of programming, the largest ever analyzed by researchers. It found not only that most programs contained some violence, but that the context in which violence occurs can have harmful effects, “The risks of viewing the ‘most common depictions of televised violence include learning to shave violently, becoming more desensitized to the harm: ful consequences of violence and becoming more fearful of being attacked,” it said.
‘The study could have implications for the political debate about violence in the ‘entertainment industry, The researchers endorsed the use of technology such as the ‘proposed V chip, a device that would be installed in new television sets to “read” ratings encoded in programming and, if Activated by viewers, block shows deemed to. Be objectionable. The study, which will be released today, was conducted by researchers at four universities, led by a team at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Based on programs from cable and broadcast channels, including PBS, during the 199495 season, it included entertainment series, movies and “reality” programs, bot excluded sports and nightly news shows.
‘Violence—defined as threatened and actual portrayals, as well as depictions of the consequences of tin seen nets—was found on all types of channels in 57 percent of programs.
However, pay enable channels, such as HBO and Showtime, had the highest proportion of violent programs (85 percent ‘of their shows) and the kind that poses the greatest risk of reducing viewer sensitivity to violence, as determined in previous studies of behavior and television.
‘The broadcast networks presented violence less often, in 44 % of their shows, but the~ context of these portrayals was deemed “just as problematic” as that on ‘cable. Among the other findings: +Perpetrators of violent acts on television {0 unpunished 73% of the time, “When Violence is presented without punishment, viewers are more likely to learn the les~ son that violence is successful,” the study concluded.
+*Most portrayals of violence fail to show the consequences of a violent act. Forty-seven percent of violent interactions show or harm to victims, and 58% show no pain. Longer-term consequences, such as financial or emotional harm, were shown ‘only 16% of the time. What Might Be Done About It The new study of television violence suggests that: * Television producers and others in the industry should limit depictions of violence, show more negative consequences of violent acts and increase the number of viewer advisories, Policymakers should promote the use of program blocking technology, such as the proposed Chip. Efforts to restrict television violence should take in count of the kinds of depictions with the most harmful consequences. Parents should watch md critically evaluate television with their children. [By Paul Farhl, S.F.C.2/6/96].
Article extracted from this publication >> February 28, 1996
