EW's Exclusive Q&A with PTC President Tim Winter

Just before Christmas, Entertainment Weekly published an unedited question and answer session (warning: the original story on the Entertainment Weekly website contains graphic images) with PTC President Tim Winter. It's not to be missed! It’s unusual for a major publication to devote such resources to a long-form piece like this, so it has been a great opportunity for the PTC to explain our mission to protect children and clear up some of the misconceptions that some people seem to have about who were are, what we do and what we stand for. The interview is a great introduction to our work and was wide-ranging, covering everything from the PTC’s core mission:

“Our mission is to protect kids, and our vision is for a safe and sound media landscape for children and families. That’s our vision. Everything we do is in furtherance of that mission and that vision”

To the PTC’s longevity:

“We probably have the most resources. As to what do we owe our longevity, we’re not a partisan group. We have a staff member who has a picture of Ronald Reagan in his office and the guy right next to him has a picture of Obama. We have left, center, right on our staff, on our board, in our membership. I think it gives the organization strength when you aren’t a political group, and you’re working hard to protect kids.”

To what’s better on television right now:

“We like The Middle—a good, family-friendly show. There’s not a whole lot these days that we consider really a green-light program.”

To why a free market is necessary for cable television:

“The biggest motion picture blockbusters are the superheroes and the family-friendly movies. They’re the most profitable. Why is that? There’s a huge market for it. Would we be concerned that real good stuff would go off the air in a real free market for cable programming? We are not concerned about that at all.”

And, most importantly, why the PTC’s work is so critical:

“I know that we’re holding a line that many inside the industry would like to step over. I’m still upset that we helped pass a bill in California that prevented unattended minors from purchasing adult-rated video games. And the video game industry filed suit and said it was against a child’s First Amendment right to free speech. We fought all the way to the Supreme Court and essentially lost. So we take our lumps. You hold the line where you can. We’re working on new programs that will hopefully help educate parents better, make sure they’re more attuned to what’s out there. I guess if you’re a policeman your goal one day is to have absolutely zero crime. Is that realistic? Maybe, maybe not. But you gotta keep fighting.”