PTC, Enough is Enough, National Congress of Black Women, and Industry Ears Praise Cancellation of BET’s Rap City

LOS ANGELES (October 9, 2008) – The Parents Television Council, the Enough is Enough Campaign for Corporate Responsibility, the National Congress of Black Women, and Industry Ears jointly praised the announcement that BET has cancelled the music video show, Rap City. This move comes on the heels of a recent announcement that BET President Reginald Hudlin resigned.

Earlier this year, the PTC, in partnership with the Enough is Enough Campaign, undertook a research study regarding BET’s and MTV’s daytime music video programming. The study concluded that as recently as March 2008, children who watched BET’s Rap City and 106 & Park and MTV’s Sucker Free on MTV were bombarded with adult content - sexual, violent, profane or obscene - once every 38 seconds. PTC and the Enough is Enough Campaign announced the findings of the study at the National Press Club in Washington DC with the participation of Industry Ears and the National Congress of Black Women.

The following is a joint statement by PTC President Tim Winter; Enough is Enough Campaign Founder Dr. Delman Coates; National Congress of Black Women Chair Dr. E. Faye Williams; and Industry Ears Co-Founder Paul Porter:

“We are heartened by the recent changes at BET, and we are gratified that our collective efforts were a catalyst for this positive change. It is apparent that our voices were heard by the public, by the corporate sponsors who underwrite television programming and by BET network executives. Parents across this country want a cessation of marketing harmful, graphic and offensive images to children. But let us be clear about our goal: we are not trying to get a particular show cancelled or a particular executive fired. Rather, our goal is a reduction in the harmful and offensive messages on BET and MTV programming – especially when the programs are targeted at children. We have called for the networks to take responsibility for their products, and this program’s cancellation is evidence of a step in the right direction.”

To see more results from the BET/MTV study, please visit http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/news/release/2008/0410.asp.

To speak with a representative from the Parents Television Council, please contact Kelly Oliver (ext. 140) or Megan Franko (ext. 148) at (703) 683-5004.

The Parents Television Council™ (www.parentstv.org®) is a non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment. It was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media. This national grassroots organization has more than 1.3 million members across the United States, and works with television producers, broadcasters, networks and sponsors in an effort to stem the flow of harmful and negative messages targeted to children. The PTC also works with elected and appointed government officials to enforce broadcast decency standards. Most importantly, the PTC produces critical research and publications documenting the dramatic increase in sex, violence and profanity in entertainment. This information is provided free of charge so parents can make informed viewing choices for their own families.