Chris Wadsworth, Watchdogs keep screen clean, News-Press, April 11, 2005.

Naples director looking to recruit more eyes

Edited together, one after another, out of context — the images make an eye-opening collage.

A celebrity uttering the "S" and "F" words at an awards ceremony. A demon peeling the skin off its victim and eating the bloody scraps. Two strippers undressing a man to his underwear and then whipping him with a leather strap.

These are just a few of the clips collected by the Parents Television Council from network programs — networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and UPN. The organization has taped even more graphic scenes on cable.

"I don't think it's right that you can turn on the TV and find almost anything," said Kathy Graff, a Cape Coral mother of four who bemoans the loss of the old-fashioned "family hour."

"I think it went from 8 until 10, but I'm shocked at what you can find on at 8:30 these days," Graff said.

The Parents Television Council has turned this shock into action. Founded in 1995, the organization recently named its first state director anywhere in the country. His name is Matt Butler, and he lives in Naples.

"It's pretty amazing the level of graphicness that is on television today," said Butler, a volunteer.

A 46-year-old father of four, Butler first learned of the council two years ago when he saw the clips of curse words, sex scenes and violent images gathered on the organization's Web site. "Every new piece they would post up had my jaw dropping," he said.

RAPID GROWTH

At the council's headquarters in Washington, D.C., staffers record every minute of primetime television on both the broadcast networks and many of their cable counterparts. They document what they consider inappropriate material and file complaints with the Federal Communications Commission against TV stations and networks. The council also lobbies politicians and industry leaders to make changes — all to live up to its motto: "Because our children are watching."

The group boasts nearly 1 million members nationwide.

And Florida is one of its prime targets for expansion. Council officials say the state has 67,000 members. New chapters continue to open in Miami, Orlando and Sarasota. The search also is on for a director to start a Fort Myers chapter.

Butler coordinates it all.

"We get a lot done because we have grass roots ... and those grass roots generate heat," Butler said. "That's what we'll continue to do in Florida. Florida is a political hotbed. Florida has a lot of political clout."

Because of those efforts, the council has gotten programmers to respond. The FCC fined Fox network affiliates more than a million dollars because of a special they broadcast featuring near-naked women covered in whipped cream. The Houston chapter recently succeeded in removing a "Girls Gone Wild" infomercial that advertised a DVD of young women exposing themselves off a morning time slot.

Leaders of the organization regularly appear in national news reports, including a Time magazine cover story last month. The story said that "almost single-handedly, the PTC has become a national clearinghouse for, and arbiter of, decency."

STATIONS WARY

Because the council has targeted network affiliates, Southwest Florida station managers are cautious about the group.

"I really don't have a problem with the organization. Any group of people has a right to organize and express their point of view," said Gary Gardner, WINK-TV's general manager. "Their point of view is obviously more conservative than most."

At Waterman Broadcasting, which operates NBC2 and ABC7, General Manager Steve Pontius expresses similar thoughts.

"I don't agree with everything that organization says or does," Pontius said, "but I applaud the fact that somebody is looking at the quality of the airwaves."

Pontius understands the council's concerns. Several years ago, he chose to dump the raunchy "The Jerry Springer Show" from his station.

Still, he wonders whether the council and similar organizations shouldn't focus their efforts elsewhere first.

"The elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about is that viewers do not differentiate between over-the-air broadcast and cable," Pontius said. "When you can go from a newscast or a hurricane special on my channels ... to some of the HBO programming, some of the Bravo programming ... that's a challenge."

Butler says that point is moot. "People try to discern normal TV from cable TV and anymore when you have one remote and you're flipping channels ... it's all one big set of channels," he said.

CLIMATE OF FEAR

Some worry about the consequences of the council's efforts.

Citing fears of reprisals for the film's language, some TV stations earlier this year canceled the Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan," the five-time Academy Award winner that centers on a military unit trying to find a soldier during World War II. While the council points out they never protested the movie, critics say they created the climate of fear that led to the pre-emptions.

"It's the fear factor," said Ryan O'Brien, a Cape Coral father with a young son.

The FCC has overreacted, he said, citing the fines levied against broadcasters over a porn star appearing on "The Howard Stern Show" and singer Janet Jackson's breast-revealing incident during the Super Bowl halftime show.

"It was out of hand. They took it too far. It wasn't that big a deal," O'Brien said.

Some parents don't want to hear it, O'Brien said, but it's their responsibility to monitor their children.

"You can control what you watch and if you don't like it, don't watch it," he said. "If you don't want your kids watching it, don't put it on."

Meanwhile, media experts fret about the impact on issues such as freedom of speech and artistic creativity.

"There is something called the First Amendment," said Michael Dupagne, a professor at the University of Miami's School of Communication. "I think we run the risk that if we crack down so forcefully that we'll eliminate programs that are for mature audiences that are innovative ... programs that may be pushing the envelope... that are interesting for adults, but not necessarily appropriate for children."

CHARGING AHEAD

The council says it's not promoting censorship or pushing its values on others.

"I don't really see it that way. I see it more as Hollywood having come in and imposed their values on me and my family ... to the point that they're putting things on the air that meet their profit objectives," Butler said.

Parents such as Michelle Tello back Butler's view.

"I love the fact that someone is trying to fight for my kids besides me," said Tello, a Cape Coral stay-at-home mom of five.

Mitzi Ibarra of south Fort Myers agrees. "I know the whole free speech thing, but we're getting off track with what we're letting into our homes," said Ibarra. "I can't say there is anything wrong with a little bit of censorship or at least having a time during the day when we know there's nothing trashy on TV."

Q&A with Florida director of PTC

The News-Press spoke with Matt Butler, the Florida regional director for the Parents Television Council, about his goals and those of his organization.

Here are excerpts of that interview.

Q: How did a father from Naples get involved with and take a position with the Parents Television Council?

A: My involvement with them stemmed from my then 12-year-old and a buddy of his having filmed their own episode of "Jackass," which I discovered on one of our video cameras at home when I went to film a family event.

Here were some reckless things done by the kids — they were using a golf cart to throw each other out. One would drive and hold the video camera and the other would get thrown out of a bicycle trailer that was jury-rigged up to the back of the golf cart. Obviously, this was an extremely unsafe thing to do. It could have resulted in pretty serious injuries had they been misfortunate with it. Seeing one of my own kids influenced from MTV to the point he would go videotape his own version of "Jackass" unbeknownst to me was pretty strong motivation.

Q: Will you be watching local television stations, and do they need to worry that you are in the market? Could complaints be filed by the council against local broadcasters because you live in this market?

A: We have 67,000 members in Florida. I don't want to say (local broadcasters) should be worried. What I think they should be doing is reviewing the content that they're going to air on their local stations prior to it going on. These things don't happen overnight. They get edited. Network executives personally sit down and screen the content before ... it goes to broadcast.

The TV stations all have opportunities to review this content. There is really no excuse for a local licensee to air content that is indecent or that offends the local community standards.

Q: But a local station manager does not get to see most network shows like "CSI" or "ER" beforehand. The first time these programs come into the local station is when they are airing.

A: There's nothing to stop the local station executive from picking up the phone and calling the network and saying I want to see this.

Are we out to get anyone? No. We are out to protect children and make sure they are not exposed to gratuitous violence and language and sexual situations.

Q: What is your response to people who say parents should be responsible for what their children watch, not the government or organizations such as yours?

A: I don't see it as we are making decisions for other parents. We are asking parents to come in and support some of the positions that we have taken. We're not attempting to be in the censorship business. What we're really hoping to achieve here, in the near term, is that people will have a choice with what it is they are buying with their cable TV. In other words, if you don't want to buy MTV because you find it to be disgusting and offensive, then you shouldn't have to pay for it. Pick and choose. The consumer really wins if they can pick things a la carte. Then they can control what they put their money into and what things are really coming into their house.

Q: What will your role be here in Florida for the council? Will we see events or campaigns targeted at Southwest Florida families or television viewers?

A: I'm a new thing in PTC. I'm the first state director they have ever had. Primarily, I'm going to be out recruiting chapter directors in television markets. We're going to be going (market by market) getting grass-roots efforts going where you have a chapter director, you have a membership director and it's just going to build like that. We have a $5 million budget nationwide. For $5 million, this organization gets a lot done.

— Chris Wadsworth
 

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