Violence in Entertainment, News Differ

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak at the National Assn. of Attorneys General’s summit on violence in our society in Long Beach (“A Close-Up on Culture of Violence,” Metro, April 20). As expected, the topic inevitably turned toward violence and the media. There was a sentiment that the media in general were part of the problem, and as one might suspect, much of the focus was on Hollywood and television news.

With certain caveats, I agree with some of the notions that were discussed at the meeting. However, there must be a clear distinction made between news in a free society and entertainment. The two cannot be lumped together. To do so threatens the underpinnings of freedom in this country and runs the risk of ignoring the true causes of violence in our communities.

Paul Klite of the Rocky Mountain Media Watch, which monitors local news nationally, told the conference that 40% of a local newscast is “news” and 30% of that is violence. He insinuated that by reporting the murders and violence in our society, the news is in some way responsible for them. How absurd! The news system is not perfect. However, censored or government-controlled news is unacceptable. The definition of news is “that which changes the status quo.” Not reporting a terrible incident or soft-pedaling it, or placing it in another part of the newscast, will not make it go away.

Violence unfortunately is a part of our culture. The only way we will effectively deal with violence is by placing it squarely in the light of public scrutiny and taking the proper steps to solve the problem at its core. There are a great many people who head community intervention programs around this country dealing with violence in our society. In many cases local television stations are deeply involved in the process.

With regard to entertainment, there is a time and a place for everything. In the world of “free over the air” television, we as industry leaders and producers of programs must take responsibility and be sensitive to what we put on the screen and at what time it is viewed and by whom. In a society that has the level of violence that exists today, only ignorant people would deny that we all have to be aware of how the depiction of violence affects our children and desensitizes us to the problem.

Station managers all across the country have started questioning what we have been seeing on our networks and in the syndicated programming we buy. Violence in one person’s opinion is a terrible thing that has no business on television. In another person’s opinion it is a classic masterpiece like “Gone With the Wind,” “The Lion King” or great television shows like “Murder, She Wrote.” The difference is when violence or sex are used for purely gratuitous purposes.

Of all human endeavors, television has the greatest ability to educate, inform and entertain. The power can also be abused. We who have the responsibility and the power to create and air the shows must take a stand and decide what kind of society we want to live in and what we want to leave for our children. This is happening now: CBS is watching the tremendous growth of Saturday night with “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” “Touched by an Angel” and “Walker, Texas Ranger.” It is proven time and again that intelligence, common sense and decency can be, and are, good business.

Violence would not go away if all of a sudden it was not shown on television or in the movies. We will stem the tide of violence when we as a society come together, hold people responsible and deal with the core reasons for violence. Those of us in the media must choose to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. This should not be difficult if we have the guts to stand for what we know is right.