Lawmakers blast marketing efforts of entertainment industry
By Cheryl Arvidson
The Freedom Forum Online
09.14.00
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| Sen. John McCain |
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress sharply attacked the
entertainment industry yesterday for allowing its quest for profits to overtake
good corporate citizenship. The lawmakers accused the industry of singling out
children in the marketing of products with violent content that the businesses
themselves rate as adult-only.
At a five-hour hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, several
lawmakers threatened to take legislative action if the industry fails to move
voluntarily to change the marketing practices within six months.
The hearing was held in response to a Federal Trade Commission report
earlier this week that criticized companies in the music, movie and video game
industries for "routinely" marketing to children "the very products that have
the industries' own parental warnings or ratings with age restrictions due to
their violent content."
Although representatives of the music and video game industries did
appear before the Senate panel to respond to the FTC report, movie industry
officials were notably absent, a fact that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called
attention to early and often during the hearing.
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| Jack Valenti |
Commenting on the "thundering silence" from motion picture executives,
the Commerce Committee chairman told the standing-room-only crowd, "By some
uncanny coincidence, every single studio executive was either out of the
country or unavailable. I can only conclude the industry was too ashamed of, or
unable to defend, their marketing practices."
The industry did send its Washington lobbyist, Jack Valenti, to
testify on its behalf. He insisted the executives did have scheduling conflicts
that made it impossible for them to appear.
"The fact that these people are not here is not because they're
duckin' and runnin' because I told them that's impossible to do," Valenti said.
"They literally had other things on their schedule that were impossible to
erase."
McCain said he would call another hearing in two weeks and would
expect all the motion picture industry executives to appear at that time.
Valenti said he would travel immediately to California to confer with
the studios and the National Association of Theater Owners to address the FTC
recommendations that entertainment companies not target the very young for
their advertising, that the ratings enforcement be strengthened at the retail
level and that more information be offered to parents on the rating
systems.
The fact that a president, the entire membership of the House of
Representatives and one-third of the U.S. Senate will be elected in less than
two months added an inescapable political aroma to the air.
"I've been in politics all my life," Valenti commented near the end of
the hearing. "I know when you trash the entertainment industry, your poll
numbers go up."
The first two hours of the hearing were devoted to opening statements
from McCain and the other committee members and to testimony from various
senators and members of Congress who had asked to make remarks. In all, nearly
two dozen senators and House members spoke or included comments in the hearing
record condemning the marketing practices. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., the
Democratic vice presidential nominee, was one of the witnesses, as was Lynne
Cheney, former head of the National Endowment for the Humanities and wife of
former Wyoming Congressman Richard Cheney, the Republican vice presidential
nominee.
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| Sen. Joseph Lieberman |
McCain, who himself ran for president against eventual GOP
standard-bearer George W. Bush, also used the forum to boost his pet
legislative project, campaign-finance legislation to limit special interest
money. He noted that the movie industry has given some $18 million, mostly in
soft money, to the two parties.
McCain didn't point out that Hollywood money goes primarily to
Democrats, but Lynne Cheney did, observing that one of the no-show movie
executives, Harvey Weinstein, chairman of Miramax, would be hosting a large
Democratic fund-raiser today in New York on behalf of the entertainment
industry.
"When these corporations do things so shameful ... shouldn't
people of stature hold them to account?" Cheney said of the industry marketing
practices. "I note two people of stature — Vice President Gore and
Senator Lieberman — are attending a fund-raising extravaganza that Mr.
Weinstein is hosting on Thursday, and I urge them to deliver the message."
"Mr. Weinstein has time to attend a fund-raiser; he does not have time
to come here," McCain said.
A recurring comment throughout the hearing was that the entertainment
companies should be given some time to clean up their own act before the FTC or
Congress moves against them. One possibility for action would be enforcing the
existing FTC regulations against deceptive or unfair acts and trade practices.
FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky said he had asked commission lawyers for an
opinion on whether the FTC could bring a legal challenge to marketing that is
inconsistent with the industry trade associations' own rating systems.
"If it turns out that self-regulation does not solve these problems
and that current law is inadequate, legislation, respectful of the First
Amendment, should be considered," Pitofsky told the panel.
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| Lynne Cheney |
Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission announced Sept. 12
that it would examine whether broadcasters were promoting inappropriate
programming when children were likely to be watching.
At yesterday's hearing, six months seemed to be the consensus on how
long Congress would be willing to wait for some decisive voluntary action
before considering a move against the entertainment industry. Lawmakers
insisted, however, that what they were proposing was not censorship or in any
way a violation of the First Amendment since they were focusing on marketing
practices, not product content.
"Censorship is a strong word, usually reserved for those occasions
when the government tries to influence the content of ideas, particularly
unpopular ideas," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass. "It has never been the law
of the land, nor will it ever be, that those engaged in the sale of a product
that harms children will have an unfettered right to cause that harm.
Commercial speech is protected by the Constitution, but not absolutely, as
though there were no competing public good."
"The entertainment industry must stop hiding behind the shibboleth of
censorship, claiming any form of restraint, even self-imposed, is nothing more
than a capitulation to the puritanical," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah,
chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Too often, the outrageous and
shocking are little more than a cover for a lack of creativity and originality.
But these artists will continue to flourish until the industry stops pretending
that the permanent coarsening of entertainment is the only way to pay homage to
the First Amendment."
"Violence directed at kids is obscenity, and that is not protected by
the First Amendment," said Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee.
However, two representatives of the music industry did not appear to
be as comfortable as the lawmakers were over the distinction between marketing
practices and content.
"Unlike the visual media, the record business is being asked to
categorize and label groups of words. For the same reason there is no ratings
system for books, or for that matter congressional testimony, with one narrow
exception, it is virtually impossible to rate words," said Danny Goldberg,
president and CEO of Artemis Records.
The exception referred to by Goldberg relates to the so-called "seven
dirty words" that record companies use, along with other curse words, to decide
whether a "parental advisory" sticker should be placed on a recording. Goldberg
said he had no problem making the actual lyrics on recordings available at
point of sale so that parents can see what their children are buying, but he
cautioned that not all parents would agree over what is or is not
objectionable.
"We in the media do share in shaping our nation's culture. We may not
change what people think, but we create a vernacular for those thoughts. We as
an industry must recognize our role and play it responsibly," said Strauss
Zelnick, president and CEO of BMG Entertainment. "None of this means, however,
that the government should serve as the censor of our art and the regulator of
our speech. Yes, violence is a terrible problem. But government interference
with free expression is a 'cure' that is worse than the disease."
Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Games
Association, whose industry was singled out by the FTC as having the best
system of voluntary ratings, said his companies categorically reject some of
the FTC findings involving advertising, particularly suggestions that it is
inappropriate for games with a mature content to be promoted in publications
that have some younger readers.
"It's easy to lose sight of the fact, in all the rhetoric and
political posturing, that video games are entertainment products for people of
all ages, that they are constitutionally protected products and that at best,
the scientific evidence linking them to harmful effects is weak and ambiguous,
and at worst does not exist," Lowenstein said.
Goldberg, Zelnick and another witness, Michael Eric Dyson, also
cautioned the committee not to rush to judgment over the content of music
lyrics they consider violent or obscene, since often the artists are expressing
a reality that exists for many young people, especially those from
African-American or Latino neighborhoods.
"Implicitly, there is a censorship that goes on when we begin to give
the voice and the microphone to some and not to others," Dyson said.
Also, he said, what is considered violent may be perceived differently
among lawmakers than among others.
"The Duke, John Wayne, would not be brought before this committee" to
justify violence in his films, Dyson said, "but Snoop Doggy Dogg would.
Violence in John Wayne is acceptable; violence in Snoop Doggy Dogg is not."
Updates
FTC to Congress: First Amendment would limit media-violence crackdown
Lawmakers should consider legislative remedies only if entertainment industry fails to step up self-regulation efforts, commission says.
11.22.00
Movie executive admits 'lapse' in judgment
Angry senators question Mel Harris, president of Sony, other officials about industry marketing practices during committee hearing today.
09.27.00
Senate committee passes bill to restrict TV violence
Measure would limit violent programs to times when children do not make up large part of viewing audience.
09.21.00
McCain wary of Gore proposal to sanction entertainment industry
'Before we embark on censorship, we'd better make very sure where this all leads,' says Sen. John McCain.
09.18.00
Related
Hollywood directors push for rating-system overhaul
Guild says industry must develop system that can be applied to all entertainment media, adopt zero tolerance toward underage admission to mature material.
09.19.00
Gore to Oprah: Entertainment industry needs to clean up its act
Democratic presidential nominee blasts violent movies, video games marketed to children in appearance on Winfrey's talk show.
09.11.00
FTC report: Entertainment industry markets violent material to youth
Releasing results of long-awaited study, commission urges industry to expand voluntary codes, sanction companies that run afoul of guidelines.
09.11.00
Free-speech advocates find Lieberman's record a mixed bag
Al Gore's running mate has opposed flag protection measures but is at forefront of campaign to label entertainment violence.
08.10.00
A panic of biblical proportions over media violence
Ombudsman Have you heard the one about '1,000 studies linking media to violence'? They don't exist.
08.21.00
FTC nearing release of report detailing marketing of violent material to youth
Meanwhile, free-speech advocates debunk theories that causal link exists between entertainment, real violence.
08.29.00
FTC probes entertainment industry's sale of violence to kids
'We're examining the self-regulation put in place by the entertainment industry to see if it works and how it works,' says agency official.
04.27.00
Pinning a label on violence in media
Ombudsman Someone should be keeping track of all the proposals coming out of Congress to regulate what the rest of us can see, hear and say. It is a long and scary list.
06.23.00
