That's not entertainment

The Imus firing and now an FTC report on visual violence reveal the need for more industry self-regulation.

from the April 17, 2007 edition

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The 140-page report, which relies on hired 13-16-year-olds to act as undercover shoppers, did find that video-game retailers have greatly reduced the ability of teens to buy mature-rated games – from 85 percent able to do so in 2000 compared to 42 percent last year. But the FTC criticized the industry's heavy advertising of violent products on websites popular with teens.

In the music industry, about three-quarters of teen consumers still can buy CDs that contain parental warnings about explicit content. And the industry still advertises such fare on cable TV stations with high teen audiences.

About 4 in 10 child­ren are still able to buy tickets for R-rated movies. The report urges particular action against the marketing and selling of unrated or "director's cut" DVDs with "R" ratings. These movies erode the current ratings system.

The limited success so far of volunteer efforts by many retailers, especially large companies such as Wal-Mart, shows that the industry can do more. But as FTC chair Deborah Platt Majoras stated, "Self-regulation, long a critical underpinning of US advertising, is weakened if industry markets products in ways inconsistent with their ratings and parental advisories."

The FTC report should renew efforts by the entertainment industry to be more responsible for its influence on society. Throwing Imus off the air, and the many others who still perform as he did, will show the industry can police itself.

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