News Archive 2008
Headlines
- Children shown TV violence 4 December 2008
- Video games linked to Nia's murder 18 November 2008
- What about the kids? 3 November 2008
- Press in NZ criticised by one of their own 18 October 2008
- Lies of the caring corporates 8 October 2008
- Committee notes heightened concern June 2008
Children shown TV violence
Excerpt from Dominion Post, Thursday 4 December 2008 article titled: Children shown TV violence
Teens paid to watch graphic scenes for research study
"Children as young as 14 have been subjected to footage of rape, sadism and domestic violence as part of research directed by two broadcasting watchdogs.
"The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) and the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) commissioned market researcher Colmar Brunton to pay each participant at least $60 to assess their attitudes toward violent content on film and television screens.
"The clips varied from 'sadistic violence' in the film Hostel - shown only to participants over 18 - to the 'highly emotional, and relatively recent, realistic' violence in Kiwi film Out of the Blue and 'comedic violence' in animated television show Family Guy.
"Those under 18 were shown scenes of attempted rape, graphic assaults and domestic violence in the movies Sin City and 8 Mile, as well as television show Heroes. Violent scenes from episodes of Mafia show The Sopranos, Crime Scene Investigation and the Brad Pitt film Fight Club were also shown.
"More than 100 people were shown 13 violent clips from films, DVDs, free-to-air television, pay television, the Internet and on mobile phones. They were then asked about their perceptions of harm from viewing each clip."
Ed: - "The research methodology chosen by the BSA and the Film Censor, is some cause for concern. Asking 100 children about their perceptions of harm to them, can be of little use when making censor’s classification decisions in this area. Children require responsible and informed parents to guide them in their choices of viewing, as they do with most childhood choices.
"The two regulatory agencies need a more closely coordinated approach, too. Why, for example, do the television broadcasters not display logos indicating classification categories in trailers and advance programme information, as cinema operators are required to do? Why is the 8.30pm Watershed, beyond which children should not view, not very clearly marked, as in other countries, so that most NZ parents don’t even know that the Watershed even exists? And yet they tell us, parents need to be more attentive to their kids viewing!
"Rising levels of violent youth crime indicate we need much more effective action by regulatory agencies, when 40 years of research tells us that TV violence encourages some young people to see violence as the solution to all their problems."
[ Full article ... Dominion Post: Children shown TV violence, 4 Dec 2008 ]What about the kids?
Press Statement — 3 November 2008
The latest crime statistics show once again that while overall crime is declining, crimes of violence involving young people continue to rise.
[ More ... Media Matters in NZ press statement, 3 November 2008 ]
Video games linked to Nia's murder
Dominion Post — 18 November 2008
"While Lisa Kuka worked, Pearson and the Curtis brothers would terrorise Nia with wrestling moves
gleaned from video games."
Press in NZ criticised by one of their own
Joanne Black, Listener columnist wrote on 18 October 2008 that:
"Last weekend was one of those times I desperately wanted a subscription to the Sunday Star-Times so that I could ring up and cancel it … for an item of utterly no public interest to turn up on the front page of a newspaper — presumably on the basis that if sex sells papers, then circumstances-where- sex-might-have-occurred- even-though-it-didn't might sell a few too — indicates that not only honour but also news judgement has been lost." [ More ... The Listener: Joanne Black's column, 18 October 2008 ]
Ed: - "Didn't we just know that all along????"
Lies of the caring corporates
Ed: - "Well-known Dominion Post columnist Joe Bennett has allowed us to reproduce
in full a recent article in which he lambasted corporate entities for their
failure to exercise more responsibility in their advertising — well worth a read. Thank you, Joe".
[ More ... Dominion Post: Lies of the caring corporates, 8 October 2008 ]
Committee notes heightened concern
June 2008 report of Australian Senate Committee:
"Sexualisation of children in the contemporary media"
"The committee considers that the inappropriate sexualisation of children in Australia is of increasing concern. While noting the complexity of defining clear boundaries around this issue, the committee believes that preventing the premature sexualisation of children is a significant cultural challenge. This is a community responsibility which demands action by society. In particular, the onus is on broadcasters, publishers, advertisers, retailers and manufacturers to take account of these community concerns.
Noting this heightened concern, the committee believes that this issue should be followed up and therefore recommends that the steps taken to address it by industry bodies ahould be further considered by the Senate in 18 months time." [ More ... Full report, 26 June 2008 ]
The Standing C'tee on Environment, Communications and the Arts
This report followed a call from 90 children's advocacy groups throughout Australia, as reported in "The Australian" newspaper of April 21, 2008:
"CHILDREN'S advocacy groups have demanded tighter restrictions on sexual text and images used on billboards, in children's television viewing times and over the programming of suggestive music clips, in submissions to a government inquiry.
In what appears to be a major concession, the industry-funded advertising watchdog acknowledged its board might have been too relaxed in its attitude towards complaints about sex and sexuality in advertising, which generated close to 40 per cent of all complaints last year." [ More ... The Australian newspaper article, 21 April 2008 ]
Ed: - "Our kids in New Zealand will get no such protection. Neither major party is in the least bit interested in protecting them from media exploitation, as their election policy statements for 2008 make clear."
