The Moral Degeneration of Broadcast Media Essay

2368 Words 10 Pages

As our technologies advance and our collective morality decreases, the American people are faced with a
dilemma which impacts greatly the foundation of our society. What is acceptable in the media?

Broadcast media is the most widespread, effective, accessible means of conveying information in the
world today. With 98% of American homes having a television set, and 2/3 of those homes receiving
cable, TV and movies are the most pervasive means of corruption yet known to our society. So readily
available, one does not even have to leave his/her home to be affected by it. Even a child, not yet able to
read, can access and be affected by broadcast media. The indecency and violence on television, coupled
with the pornography, indecency, …show more content…

As each individual's personal moral standards decline, become more tolerant and accepting, the moral
standard of our society as a whole also falls, accepting and tolerating more as well.

Posed solutions such as the V-chip, rating systems, and parental warnings - which are intended to reduce
the noxious impact of violence and indecency in broadcast media on children - are not as effective as
initially intended or desired. With the rising level of computer literate children, most can easily
manipulate any produced technology designed to block out certain TV shows. Parental warnings and
rating systems are equally ineffective when many parents are apathetic regarding what their children
watch. This apathy is another sign of the rapidly declining state of morality - parents who do not care to
protect their children from indecency because they accept it.

The harmful effect that broadcast media has on our society is obvious. However, the abject state of
America's morality, caused by other sources, is what calls for and allows the indecency, pornography,
obscenity, and violence to saturate our broadcast media. The movie industry is "driven by a need for
blockbuster hits"(Weinraub); a success which is almost assured by sex and violence. The immoral
majority's demands are met by a subservient media, giving them whatever they want, as long as

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As our technologies advance and our collective morality decreases, the American people are faced
with a dilemma which impacts greatly the foundation of our society. What is acceptable in the media?
Broadcast media is the most widespread, effective, accessible means of conveying information in the
world today. With 98% of American homes having a television set, and 2/3 of those homes receiving
cable, TV and movies are the most pervasive means of corruption yet known to our society. So readily
available, one does not even have to leave his/her home to be affected by it. Even a child, not yet able to
read, can access and be affected by broadcast media. The indecency and violence on television, coupled
with the pornography, indecency, obscenity, and violence in movies, have a staggering effect on the
moral state of our society. In return, the collective moral state of our society, and what is deemed
acceptable by the majority, allows television and movies to contain such abhorrent and vulgar materials.
The result is a downward spiral of entertainment feeding off of a dwindling moral state while at the same
time promoting its degeneration. HOW MUCH IS DUE TO BROADCAST MEDIA? The broadcast
media, through television and movies, is guilty of promoting an immoral society. Everyone who watches
television and movies are effected and influenced by what is seen in them. Children learn that those
ways are acceptable. Eventually after so much exposure, which causes desensitization to immoral ways,
adults who at first tolerate them begin to accept them as well. Studies on both children and adults have
shown them to have more violent tendencies after being exposed to violence in movies and on TV. As for
indecency, obscenity, and pornography, when people who are exposed to them begin to accept them,
they incorporate these immoral tendencies into their words and actions, simply because they are now
regarded as acceptable. As each individual's personal moral standards decline, become more tolerant
and accepting, the moral standard of our society as a whole also falls, accepting and tolerating more as
well. Posed solutions such as the V-chip, rating systems, and parental warnings - which are intended
to reduce the noxious impact of violence and indecency in broadcast media on children - are not as
effective as initially intended or desired. With the rising level of computer literate children, most can
easily manipulate any produced technology designed to block out certain TV shows. Parental warnings
and rating systems are equally ineffective when many parents are apathetic regarding what their children
watch. This apathy is another sign of the rapidly declining state of morality - parents who do not care to
protect their children from indecency because they accept it. The harmful effect that broadcast
media has on our society is obvious. However, the abject state of America's morality, caused by other
sources, is what calls for and allows the indecency, pornography, obscenity, and violence to saturate our
broadcast media. The movie industry is "driven by a need for blockbuster hits"(Weinraub); a success
which is almost assured by sex and violence. The immoral majority's demands are met by a subservient
media, giving them whatever they want, as long as it makes money. This shows poor moral standards
and judgment on the part of the media as well as society. This situation leads to an important question,
redolent of the age-old "chicken and egg" dilemma. Is it our society's craving for the indecent, obscene,
pornographic, and violent which allows it to be put into TV and movies, or is it the glamorized depiction
of such things in movies and television which make us want it? Either way, the fact that we have this
indecency indicates a lack of morality in American society in general, and it is clearly evident that the
broadcast media plays a substantial part in encouraging and advancing this lack of morality. THE ISSUE
OF LEGAL PROTECTION Through the obscenity, indecency, pornography, and violence that is available
in the majority of contemporary movies and television programs, America's morality is disintegrating --
quickly. Why? Because the squalid and immoral contents of broadcast media are protected. People in
the movie and television industries have manipulated our Constitution, the very foundation of our
society, and use it to defend abhorrent, base practices. "[B]roadcasters have devoted years of effort and
millions in fees to litigate for the right to broadcast indecent shows whenever they wish" (Hundt).
Broadcasters not only hide behind the First Amendment, but they push it to - and at times beyond - its
furthest limitations. This in itself only demonstrates how morally bankrupt American society has become
when it can use and abuse its own Constitution - which is, by design, meant to uphold and further such
admirable things as a moral society - to protect indecency. In the 1973 case Miller v. California, the
Supreme Court attempted to establish what constituted "obscenity". The result was the following
definition: That the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the
work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; AND 2. That the work depicts or describes in a
patently offensive way, as measured by contemporary community standards, sexual conduct specifically
defined by the applicable law; AND 3. That a reasonable person would find that the work, taken as a
whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political and scientific value. (2) Despite this outline, not all sexual
expression can be regulated. "Only a narrow range of 'obscene' material can be suppressed"(1). The fact
that people fought for the use of obscenity makes an unfavorable statement on the pitiable state of
American society's morality; the fact that they won this fight is even worse. The definition of
"indecency", established by the Supreme Court in its only decision involving broadcast indecency (FCC v.
Pacific, 1978), is similar to parts of the definition of obscenity. In agreement with the normal definition of
"indecent" (the nonconformance with accepted standards of morality) the FCC defines indecency for
broadcast media as: language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently
offensive as measured by contemporary community standards in the broadcast medium, sexual or
excretory activities or organs (2). With this definition decided, the Supreme Court has held that
"Indecent expression is entitled to some constitutional protection"(1) - another appalling misuse of the
U.S.Constitution. A common thread found in these legal definitions is the "community standard of
morality." Although these definitions are meant to better enable a basis for judgment of materials, it in
most cases makes the term more vague as the "community standard" changes, deteriorates. What is
necessary in these cases, in addition to the definitions of the terms obscenity and indecency, is a
definition of the community standard; a clear description of specifically what is acceptable, morally, in
our society. If this were the case, perhaps everyone would be able to see exactly how low our moral
standards have fallen in regards to what we accept in our broadcast media. This could possibly incense
the American people enough to prompt them into action against this immorality infiltrating our
broadcast media and, ultimately, our lives and culture. Differing from "obscenity" and "indecency",
"pornography" is a generic, not a legal term. The Supreme Court has outlined no exact definition for the
word, but the 1986 Attorney General's Commission on Pornography has defined pornography as
"Material that is predominantly sexually explicit and intended primarily for the purpose of sexual
arousal"(2). However, it is another term which, like "community standard", is vague, and thus difficult to
dispute in court. "Pornography comes in as many varieties as the human sexual impulse and is protected
by the First Amendment unless it meets the definition for illegal obscenity"(1). This protection is yet
another example of how the words of our constitution have been misconstrued to defend such
contemptible things. THE EFFECTS OF BROADCAST MEDIA ON CHILDREN Violence in movies and on
television have a detrimental effect on children, who spend an average of 28 hours per week watching
TV (1). Significantly affected by what they see, children have shown in studies to act more aggressively
after watching violent TV shows. "Children have been shown TV programs with violent episodes in a
laboratory setting and then tested for 'aggressive' behavior....these studies suggest that watching TV
violence may induce 'object aggression' in children"(1). From being overexposed to violence through
television, children grow up with a warped view of it; they think that it is an acceptable way to handle a
situation -- after all, they saw it on TV, so it must be OK. Whether we like it or not, children look to
television for role models. They believe that what happens on TV is "real life", and that what the
characters do is not only acceptable, but something they should do. In February of 1996, the cable
television industry funded a study which found that "fifty-seven percent of television shows contain
'psychologically harmful' violence" (Kaufman). With the amount of TV that children watch, the effects of
televised violence are unavoidable as long as it continues in its present quantity and severity. The
researchers of this study warn that "the risks of viewing the most common depiction of televised
violence include learning to behave violently [and] becoming more desensitized to harmful
consequences of violence" (Kaufman). Not only do TV and movies show children that violence is
permissible in society, but it teaches them how to be violent. In letting violence pollute our television
sets, we allow it to pollute the minds of our children, as it can contribute to promoting the view that
violence is commonplace in everyday life. "[W]atching violence can lower a child's standard of
behavior"(Kaufman). When they learn that violence is acceptable in society as children, they will grow up
to be either violent adults, or adults who accept and allow violence. SOLUTIONS Many Americans
wonder: What could possibly be the solution to this situation, if the other possibilities are ineffective?
The answer itself is simple, however, accomplishing it will prove to be much more difficult. As suggested
by Cardinal Mahoney, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the movie industry should strive to lift the quality
level in motion pictures. The same goes for television. Mahoney insists that the only way we can conquer
the growing immorality problem in broadcast media is for those in the TV and movie industries to
"accept social and artistic responsibility" (Weinraub) for what they include in their movies and
programming. He has "challenged the entertainment industry to adopt general guidelines for the
depiction of violence, sex, family values, and the treatment of women"(Weinraub). These guidelines
were outlined in a 40 page pastoral letter from Mahoney to the entertainment industry. Mahoney says
that the criteria he outlines is not exclusive property of any specific denomination, but rather are
"human values". Another method, perhaps a bit more harsh, is suggested by Dr.Bob Lichter, co-director
of the Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington. Dr.Lichter feels that "To get rid of the sludge of
popular culture, the people who produce it must be treated like polluters and pornographers. They have
to be made to feel ashamed of what they do" (Marks). These are both plausible solutions, which
could very well work considering the ineffectiveness of previous attempts. Those in the entertainment
industry must follow the moral standards of decency which should be present in society; not dictated by
any specific institution, but by human nature. If they would follow these moralistic guidelines, we
Americans could use it as a cornerstone on which to start rebuilding a moral society. Of the most
damaging factors in the phenomenon of moral deterioration in middle class America, the media can be
considered as the most prevalent, the most profoundly destructive. Both television and movies triumph
in poisoning the minds of children by hurling a barrage of sex, violence, and inappropriate, immoral
behavior at their impressionable brains; succeeding by way of glamorizing the base actions and crass
ideas, making them easily digestible to susceptible minds. This abuse of society through broadcast media
extends to adults as well. A solution to this moral dilemma exists as a problem within itself. As more
and more people become incensed at the amount of graphic violence and sexually explicit material that
their children are exposed to through TV and movies, more and more goals are set as plausible solutions;
yet there is always a flaw in the plan. The V-chip, rating systems, and government regulation, could all
accomplish a significant effect on the violence in the media. However, they all impose upon our freedom
of speech. There has been an ongoing battle between those who call for more responsible programming
and regulation, and those who cry First Amendment freedom of speech. The battle has lapsed into a
stagnate state, a stalemate of sorts, and in this indecision has resulted in nothing but more violence in
the media. Obscenity, indecency, and pornography are also damaging materials for which broadcast
media is a venue for their augmentation. This obscene, indecent, and pornographic material is not only
tolerated, but welcomed by current day middle class American society. This toleration furthers both the
acceptance and accessibility of such destructive materials. As Americans become more desensitized
to these vulgar, crude, deceptive, and harmful materials, our moral standards falter at the very
foundation upon which they are built. If this widespread acceptance continues, the state of morality in
America will continue to plummet to unfathomable depths. Who knows when it will be irreversible? It is
evident that broadcast media must be controlled, not censored. If done so by reasonable standards,
America can succeed in regaining, rebuilding it's collapsing moral state. Works Cited Hundt, Reed.
"Television, Kids, Indecency, Violence, and the Public Interest" Speech given at Duke University School of
Law. 9 Feb, 1996. http://www.netreach.net/~kaufman/Hundt.FCC.kids.html Kaufman, Ron. "How
Television Images Affect Children" http://www.netreach.net/~kaufman/children.html Marks, Alexandra.
"Washington Turns Up the Debate on T.V. Violence." Christian Science Monitor. 14 July, 1995. Weinraub,
Bernard. "Los Angeles Bishop Asks for Film Guidelines." The New York Times. 1 Oct. 1992. (Web
Pages without author, cited by number) 1. "Freedom of Expression" http://www.aclu.org/library/p