Lion & Lamb Project

Email :

Phone : (301) 654-3091
Fax : 301-654-2394


July 19,2001

MEDIA ADVISORY

Parent Group to Slam Industry Response On
Limiting Childrens "Entertainment" Violence

Hearing: July 20, 9:30am, Room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC The entertainment industry continues the blatant marketing of violence to children, according to Daphne White, executive director of The Lion & Lamb Project, who will testify on Friday, July 20, before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. The hearing will focus on the response of the entertainment industries to curb childrens exposure to violent entertainment.

A September Federal Trade Commission report found that industry was "pervasively and aggressively" marketing adult-rated violence to children. A more recent FTC follow-up report showed that the movie and video game industries have made "some" progress toward reforming their marketing practices, although much remains to be done. The music industry has made no changes at all, and has the most to answer for.

"The response of all three industries has been woefully inadequate," says White. "They still have a very long way to go if they hope to win back parents trust. Short of written policies spelling out how the industries plan to stop marketing violence to children over the long term, industry promises are not worth the paper they are not written on." And for industry guidelines to be meaningful, they must have real teeth, she added.

Movie executives are still marketing adult-rated movies to teens by showing previews for R-rated films before PG-13 features, and they are still advertising R-rated movies during television programs most popular with teens.

The video game industry, which claims to be the most responsible of the three, is still advertising adult-rated video games in magazines with a large under-17 audience. And they are also marketing adult-rated game titles to kids with kid-rated versions of the same games produced for the Game Boy.

White, an outspoken activist against violent entertainment targeted at children, founded the Lion & Lamb Project in 1995 to stop the marketing of violence to children.

 

The Lion & Lamb Project


The Lion & Lamb Project is an initiative of the Tides Center.