Newspaper Page Text
African Americans support TV ratings system, poll shows!
BFCC urged to hold
public hearings.
NEW YORK
An overwhelming 89% of Afri
can Americans support an inde
perdent TV ratings, system for
violence, sexual content andinap
propriate language. In response,
People for Better TV, a coalition
of civil rights groups, pediatri
cians, consumer groups, women’s
groups, and religious organiza
tions, called for the Federal Com
munications Commission (FCC)
to open public hearings on these
and otherimportant issues affect
ing television and TV broadcast
ers.
The poll was taken as part of an
initiative by People for Better TV
to urge public hearings by the
FCC on the “public interest obli
gations” of the nation’s television
broadcastersas TV enters the digi
tal age and stations across the
country move to digital televi
sion.
“The vast majority of Africa-
Americans are concerned about
TV. There is too much violence
and too much sexon TV. And, TV
is becoming more expensive. It’s
time for African Americans and
all Americans tospeak up and call
upon the FCC to hold publichear
ings on these and other issues.
The public wants an easy-to-un
derstand TV ratings system for
violence, sexual content and inap
propriate language as a tool for
parents” declared mark Lloyd of
the Civil Rights Forum on Com
munications Policy (The Civil
Rights Forum). “The airwaves
belong to all Americans. TV must
begin to put families and children
first and take greater responsibil
ity for how we allow the airwaves
to be used.”
Members for the People for Bet
ter TV coalition include: the
NAACP, the American Academy
of Pediatrics, the Civil Rights Fo
rum on Communications Policy,
the Consumer Federation of
America, the League of United
Latin American Citizens(LULAC),
the National Association of the
Deaf, the National Council of
Churches, the National Organiza
tion for Women (NOW), and the
Project on Media Ownership.
The poll was coordinated by the
Project on Media Ownership and
was conducted by the Washing
ton-based polling firm of Lake
Snell Perry and Associates be
tween April 6-11, 1999 among ap
proximately 300 registered Afri
can-American voters nationwide.
The survey has an error rate of
plus or minus 5.7%. Among the
findings were:
- 89% of African Americans fa
vor an independent TV ratings
system for violence, sexual con
tent and inappropriate language.
8% are opposed.
- 78% favor limiting commer
cials to six minutes per hour dur-
Bell South
From page 6A
ment that positions us to produce
better solutions for our custom
ers,” said Duane Ackerman, chair
man and CEO Bell South Corpora
tion. “We are pleased for the
recognition of our progress to
ward where we'd like to be. Every
11 seconds Bell South gains a new
customer in an SBOOB global in
dustry. Promoting diversity is
essential to our success. We can’t
afford to have less than the best
collective talent of employees to
gether to serve our customers.”
The basis for selection of the
recipients was a survey to the
Fortune 1000 and 200 of the larg
est privately held companies.
Together with the Council on Eco
nomic Priorities (CEP), a non
profit research firm, rankings
were determined. Reviewed were
areas of diversity representation
on total workforce, the board of
directors, corporate officers and
the 25 highest paid employees;
and hiring practices in the past
year.
Bell South has previously been
recognized for its progress toward
its overall diversity efforts. Last
year, Bell South ranked topamong
its peers in diversity efforts when
the NAACP graded 16 telecom
munications companies and an
nounced its Telecommunications
Report Card. Earlier this year,
BeEOSouth received the Minority
Corporate Counsel Association
(MCCA) award recognizing inno
vative programs to increase di
versity in the legal profession.
ing children’s programming. 12%
are opposed.
-68% favor making all children’s
shows commercial free. 26% are
opposed. ;
- 92% favor closed captioning.
5% are opposed.
- 84% favor measures to protect
privacy. 9% are opposed.
" - 91% favor providing at least
seven hours of educational pro
gramming per week. 7% are op
posed. :
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-80% favor producing programs
that address local concerns. 14%
are opposed. :
-83% favor providing more adult
education and community college
courses on TV. 15% are opposed.
- 74% say the FCC should regu
late “pay-for-view” programming.
26% are opposed. ;
Finally, when asked, “As you
may know, television broadcast
ers need access to the airwaves in
order to broadcast their programs.
They get that access from the
FCC. Do you think that broad
casters pay to use these airwaves
or do you think they get to use
them for free?” Two-thirds of
African Americans are unaware
that TV broadcasters use the air
waves for free.
In the Telecommunications Act
0f 1996, Congress gave broadcast
ers S7O billion worth of additional
public airwaves for digital TV
broadcasts. In May, broadcasters
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in the nation’s top ten television
markets began using digital TV.
On June 3", People for Better TV
filed a petition with the FCC ask
ing for public hearings on how the
broadcasters should compensate
communities. The FCC has yet to
schedule public hearings on the
issue.
“The FCC indicates that exist
ing public interest requirements
apply to all television broadcast
licensees and that digital broad
¥
ROLEX
AUGUSTA FOCUS
casters willremain trustees of the
public’sairwaves,”said Mark Lloyd
of the Civil Rights Forum. “The
Commission has stated that, at
the appropriate time, it would in
stitute a proceeding and consider
all views. That time is now.”
The coalition has established a
web site for the press to obtain
moreinformation about the group’;
and for the public to file an elec
tronic petition with the FCC at
www.bettertv.org. : 3
JULY 22, 1999
7A