Television Rating Systems

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses TV ratings that attempt to provide guidance for parents regarding the content of the programs their children are watching, as well as gives viewers an idea of the maturity of the program content. The paper comments that the efficacy of these ratings remains in question because of the subjective and arbitrary nature of the way information is portrayed, and suggests that, instead, parents must establish a free and direct discourse with their children about what they are watching. The paper concludes that TV ratings must not merely be revised, but rather they must be abandoned at an industry and government level and, instead, the real rating system must be enforced from household to household.

Outline:
Introduction
Questions of Efficacy of Ratings
What Shows are Targeted?
Prime Time
Sports
News
Parents
Many Want to Decide Content of Child's Broadcasting on their Own
Prefer Talking with Kids than Relying on Ratings
Make Sure That There is no Television in Children's Bedrooms
See That Their Children Mature at Different Rates
Fears of Censorship and Legal Issues on a National Scale
Confusion Over Standards
Better Ways of Monitoring Content than Ratings
New Media
Why Television Rating System Different Than Movie Ratings
Difficulty of Surveillance of TV and New Media
Internet
More Cable Stations
Conclusion
Dialogue not Regulation is the Answer.
No More Ratings--Conduct Ratings from Family to Family, Within the Home

From the Paper:

"The subjective and arbitrary nature of the way information is disseminated about rating may be why "one New York mother thought only ABC carried ratings. Several parents thought the Government was applying them," and another said she did not see or understand the rating system until her ten-year-old explained it to her! While parents who worked away from home and left their children unsupervised for long periods of time said they liked the system, they were unclear about how to enforce it, it seemed to make them 'feel' good rather than spur them to proactive action."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Mifflin, Laurie. "Parents Give TV Ratings Mixed Reviews." The New York Times. 22 Feb 1997. 21 May 2008.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04EEDD133EF931A15751C0A961958260

More papers on Television Rating Systems:

• Argumentative Essay # 92227 : "Television Ratings"
• Research Paper # 25460 : "African-American Movie and Television Images"
• Persuasive Essay # 108544 : "Television Censorship"

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