Headlines:

• TV tokens target the telly tubbies 8 November 2009
• Violent TV Undermining Family Violence Message - Family First NZ Media Release: 31 October 2009
  • Family Watershed time - So what can you do?

TV tokens target the telly tubbies

Automated screen breaks could help reduce the amount of time children spend watching television and help fight against obesity, Auckland health researchers say.

In the first home-based study of its type, Auckland University's School of Population Health researchers looked at the feasibility and effectiveness of using token-fed electronic devices that interrupt the TV signal after set periods.

[ More ... Sunday Star Times, 8 Nov 2009: TV tokens target the telly tubbies ]

 

Violent TV Undermining Family Violence Message -
Family First NZ - Media Release, 31 October 2009

[Excerpt]

Family First NZ says that a report by the Parents Television Council [USA] which documents an alarming rise in violence against women and girls on prime-time television should sound warning bells in NZ.

According to the report Women in Peril: A Look at TV's Disturbing New Storyline Trend which studied trends from 2004 to 2009, it found a dramatic increase in storylines depicting violence against women and girls, and the violence being more graphic than ever before.

…

A Family First investigation of 15 programmes on four free-to-air channels between 6pm and 8.30pm over a period covering November 4–13 in 2008 found a saturation of foul language, sexual innuendo, and promotion of Adult Only programmes, and called in to question the so-called family watershed time.

[Excerpt]

[ More ... Family First NZ Media Release, 31 Oct 2009: Violent TV Undermining Family Violence Message ]
[ More ... PTC [USA] Press release, 28 Oct 2009: Women in Peril: PTC Report Finds Increase in Violence Against Females on Television ]
[ More ... report & video: Parents Television Council [USA], Oct 2009 - Women in Peril: A Look at TV’s Disturbing New Storyline Trend ]

Editor: The problem identified by Family First and the Parents Television Council is one shared internationally, as this extract from the Sydney Daily Telegraph of 18 September 2009 makes clear.

[Excerpt]

Wrath of God is TV's next big hit

The hit series Underbelly is among shows under fire from a major Christian group demanding tougher rules on sex and violence on TV.

With standards governing on-screen content being reviewed for the first time in six years, the Australian Christian Lobby launched the "Tame the Tube" campaign to combat what it says are industry attempts to weaken TV standards.

[Excerpt]

[ More ... The Daily Telegraph - Wrath of God is TV's next big hit, 18 Sept 2009 ]

Family Watershed time - So what can you do?

Write to your local paper and your MP and say that in the light of credible local research, the Watershed on NZ television must be enforced by the Broadcasting Standards Authority, for the sake of our children, and the more vulnerable in our society.

See our AO Campaign page.