TV violence soars as execs stay mum

By Jeffrey M. McCall

You might think any community would be outraged to discover that violence against its women had more than doubled during a five-year period. Our nation has seen such an increase in the on-air television community, but no outrage has yet materialized.

The results of a study by the Parents Television Council, which focused on the storylines of prime-time television and the portrayals of victimization and violence against women, show a 120 percent increase in such portrayals in the past five years.

Stories about damsels in distress go way back in dramatic history, of course, but the PTC results should give us pause for concern. Beyond the general jump in portrayals of violence against females is an even larger increase of violent storylines involving teenage girls. The big four networks all registered increases in violence against women. Much of the overall increase involved violence against women by intimate partners.

In addition, the violent incidents portrayed against women on television are increasingly graphic. ABC had the lowest increase and lowest total incidence in portrayals of violence against women. CBS had the most total violent acts, while NBC had the greatest percentage increase.

For years, media critics have described television as a cultural legitimizer. At some point, what is seen on television becomes normative. Studies consistently show that media consumers who view televised violence become desensitized to it. This trend is particularly evident for younger viewers. While television is just one factor among many in the high incidence of violence in our society, it nonetheless is a factor that should be noted. Further, it is a factor that could be carefully monitored and managed by producers in the television industry.

Instead of viewing the PTC data as a disturbing cultural trend, however, the media industry dismissed the study and blamed the messenger. TV Watch, a lobbying organization funded by big media corporations, accepted zero responsibility for mediated storylines involving violence toward women. Instead, TV Watch issued an official statement criticizing PTC for “trying a new angle in its efforts to expand government control over what Americans choose to watch on television.” Translated, this means that a citizens organization should shut up about media content and leave big media corporations as the sole deciders of what is culturally acceptable. For an organization that supposedly promotes the First Amendment, TV Watch has little tolerance for opposing messages.

TV Watch went on to claim that some of the shows being criticized for graphic portrayals of violence against women are actually shows that “provide cautionary lessons.” TV Watch would have us think that violent dramas involving women are similar to educational documentaries for a sociology class.

Apologists for big media helped explain away the networks’ lack of concern. A television writer for The Washington Post pointed out that most violent acts on television are still directed toward males and mockingly asked, “Isn’t half of the population of this country female?”

Essentially, this is saying that until women are beaten up or stabbed equally with men, there is no need to worry about the increase. The Post writer went on to criticize the study because it focused only on major network programs and didn’t research levels of similar violence on cable channels. Even though major network viewership is down in recent years, the big four networks are still quite relevant in establishing cultural standards. Besides, mediated violence in cable programming could well be even worse than that displayed on the networks.

While posturing about free expression and “cautionary lessons,” network execs only think about one thing: getting eyeballs in front of a television set and selling those eyeballs to advertisers.

How nice it would be if TV Watch expressed even the slightest concern for the cultural implications of television in our society. If TV Watch thinks mediated violence is of no consequence to our culture, then let’s see their research studies or hear their arguments. To angrily dismiss the legitimate research and concerns of a citizens organization tells a lot about what the networks think of us, the viewing public.

Jeffrey M. McCall is a professor of communication at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.