I'll try to contribute my nickrl's worht, but I must begin by saying that I
am not really in favour of a technological answer to a (perceived)
sociological problem.  Even if the technology works in depriving the viewers
of the programs it would be naughty to watch, what has been achieved? Has
society learned anything? Has the viewer become more discriminating? No,
there has only been a successful prohibition.
 
>Questions and Concerns on the V-chip or the Program editor
>
>
>
>How is the Program Editor (which blanks out pre-selected programs) going
>to be better than the V-Chip.
 
I doubt if there is much to chose between the two. Each one pretends it is
capable of making decisions for people that they ought to be making for
themselves. Each relieves individuals of the responsibility of thinking
about the programs they might see, and simply reduces all programs to either
OK or not OK. Then it refuses to allow the not OK category through, so that
the viewer has no experience at all of not OK programs against which to
weigh their experience of OK.
 
In Milton's Aereopagitica the argument is presented that we know good only
because we have experience of evil, and that if we remove evil, we will not
be able to know what is good or why.
 
>
>And if it is how going to be better, how is the Program editor going to
>work?
>
>I don t know much about the program editor so if I could get some more
>incite to how this is going to be better please send me some information
>on it.
>
>I don t see how the V-chip will lead to more sex and violence on t.v.,
>which Congress Thomas Bliley (VA-Rep.) stated, this was printed in a AP
>release.  I would also like more information on this too.
 
The argument is that TV producers would feel free to put any content they
wanted in TV programs once the V chip was in place, because they would not
have any responsibility to "protect" viewers from "evil" content. If the V
chip is doing the job of "protecting" the viewer, no one else needs to feel
obliged to exercise any responsibility to anything but the ratings.
>
>Also if the parents don t share the code for programming the V-chip with
>their children then I don t see how they can deprogram this device,
>unless of course the child is a computer whiz.  Which was also in the
>Washington AP release.
>
How many parents will be able to program the chip in the first place without
the help of their children? There is no daoubt that there is a higher level
of computer know how among young people than among older people. Even if
this does not apply to some young parents, the argument might well be very
true for grandparents.
 
>Depending on how parents choose to censor what their children what than
>maybe the V-chip is not the way to go.
 
Do you assume here that censorship is a natural and desirable thing to do to
children? You are entitled to do this, but you should be aware that your
question contains the assumption.
 
 And if the program editor is so
>much better than maybe it is the way networks need to go.  This way you
>don t block out the whole channel you only block our the shows w/ the
>bad ratings.
 
I am not aware of any proposals that would end up blocking a whole channel.
I have seen it possible in hotels, and I suppose some cable companies will
offer to block , say, The Playboy channel on a home by home basis, or even
make it accessible only to a coded access. The V chip is intended to block
an entire program (as opposed to just scenes from a program). I have not
heard about how the program editor will work.
>
>I watch TV often so I don t find that some of the shows do have too much
>violence, language, and sex on them.
 
This sentence appears to be saying that people who watch a lot of TV do not
find too much sex and violence, because of the amount of TV they watch. This
is a dubious argument. It may contain some truth, but another explanation is
that people who watch a lot of TV are uncritical of content altogether.
 
Like take for instance the high
>controversial show "NYPD Blue".   It has a lot of everything on it, but
>I like it and yet if I had children, there is no way I would let them
>watch it.
 
Well, I disagree with you on this one. I think NYPD Blue is one of the rare
shows that shows violence in a fairly true light, often depicting
consequences that are disturbing. The sex in the show is often loving sex,
even if it is there for the ratings. When the story line revolves around sex
and crime or sex and violence, there is rarely any glorification of either.
I would rather my children saw NYPD Blue than Woman in Red for sex, and tha
any action/adventure film for violence.
 
However, the distinctions I am making between the sex and violence in these
programs and movies can not be made by the V chip. To the V chip a program
will have sex or not, be violent or not.
 
  So instead of blocking the whole channel with the V-chip use
>a locking system to lock that program out. Because if you do lock that
>specific channel out you are also maybe locking out educational programs
>as well.  Or even the Saturday morning cartoons that come on.
 
Now there are some Saturday Am cartoons that I would like to take to task
before I would take my children away from NYPD Blue. Why do we condone a
full half hour commercial for children's toys (many of which might be
violent) and say it's OK because it keeps the kids quiet on Saturday when
mom wants to clean the house, and then accuse TV of corrupting our children?
If we look upon TV as a babysitter, and admit that we don't care what it
shows to our children so long as it keeps them quiet, what right have we to
complain about the other influences TV may have upon children?  We have
already gone on record as saying we don't care.
 
The whole argument and debate about V chips and the like, to me, is a symbol
of a populace that is saying, don't ask me to think, just give me an easy
answer. Well, there are no easy answers - especially if you refuse to think
for yourself, or if you think you shouldn't have to.
 
Making sense out of TV is hard work. How we react and respond to TV content
is an immensely complex question that cannot be answered in any simple way.
 
But stay tuned, many of the discussions on this list - and others like it -
take this complexity and try hard to unravel it, bit by bit, so that it can
be understood a little better than before.
 
Good luck with your explorations of V chip technology.
 
Chris
 
 
Chris M. Worsnop
Consultant, speaker, workshop leader, writer
media education, assessment, writing
 
Homepage: <http://www.screen.com/mnet/eng/speakers/cw/worsnop.htm>
 
2400 Dundas Street West            Email:  <[log in to unmask]>
Unit 6, Suite 107                  Phone:  (905) 823-0875
Mississauga
Ontario, Canada
L5K 2R8
 
 
"Young people are under a certain obligation to acquire a little knowledge."
from "Beowulf"
 
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