Hot Button Issues
Marion Graham
COM 400/ Media and Society
February 23, 2015
Theresa Billiot
Hot Button Issues
There was once a time when television was family entertainment. This form of family entertainment was usually in the form of one television in the family room, which had three or four channels to choose from. This meant children had very few options on what to watch and very little input. Parents typically controlled the viewing. The shows that were considered adult content showed very little blood and gore were shown and much of the language was still what we would consider “PG” by broadcasting standards and society. However, as represented on ParentsTV.org as early as 1952, the United States House of Representatives voiced their concerns regarding the impact of violence and the relationship with television. The House determined that the "television broadcast industry was a perpetrator and a deliverer of violence.” (TV Bloodbath: Violence on Prime Time Broadcast TV , 2011) Twenty years later, the Surgeon General's office headed research on television violence. The Surgeon General established that it television was "a contributing factor to increases in violent crime and antisocial behavior." At that time, Surgeon General Jesse Steinfeld stated, ""It is clear to me that the causal relationship between televised violence and antisocial behavior is sufficient to warrant appropriate and immediate remedial action… (TV Bloodbath: Violence on Prime Time Broadcast TV , 2011”
In addition, there was no YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. The news was held until 6pm or 11pm and was not readily at your fingertips. The fastest messages would come in the mail. Social media did not exist. Video games were accessible at the local arcade or bowling alley until Atari came along. The most violence you would see was Pacman, Space Invaders, and Asteroids no blood or gore involved and computers were not a common household item. Today,...