Zann Williams Named New Chapter Director

LOS ANGELES (January 27, 2006) - The Parents Television Council®, the nation's most influential advocacy organization protecting children against sex, violence and profanity in entertainment today announced a new director of the Jacksonville chapter, one of three active chapters in the state. The chapter, which was founded in April 2005, will now be headed by Jacksonville Beach resident Zann Williams. The chapter has 50 members.

Williams, who recently became a grandmother, is an active volunteer for Blueprint for Prosperity Task Force, Children and Literacy, Beaches Educational Foundation, and Beaches Watch and is a past President of her PTA/PTSA.

Williams was motivated to add the PTC™ to her list of worthy causes because, "Today, more than ever, we need to be careful about influences from the non-stop media culture we live in that will play a role in forming the beliefs and norms for our children.  TV, movies, music, and video games often present lifestyles, attitudes and beliefs that are not age appropriate for the children in the audience.  Knowledge is power, and parents need to be empowered to protect their children."

Naples resident Matt Butler, the volunteer Florida regional director for PTC, said, "It's people like Zann Williams that make the PTC work. Our 67,000 members in Florida want to make their voices heard, and the PTC provides them with a conduit.  Zann will be instrumental in our efforts to support legislation that will keep Florida's children from purchasing violent video games, such as ‘25 to Life', and ‘Grand Theft Auto' where kids score points for killing cops and dealing drugs."

Tim Winter, executive director of the PTC, said, "Volunteers like Zann are the key to spreading the PTC's mission in communities across the nation.  We expect her to draw on her experiences in both volunteer and professional work as an advocate for families and children to continue the progress achieved by the previous director: to make people aware of how far entertainment content has slipped and to educate people about what influence they can have on the entertainment industry."

The Jacksonville chapter will educate and mobilize the community to initiate positive change in the quality of entertainment.  It will encourage local television affiliates and advertisers to reduce graphic and gratuitous sex, violence, and profanity in television programming, while promoting programming with positive, socially responsible themes.