Bill Clinton: “Good afternoon. I want to thank Dr. Cole for being here today and for the extensive study that he has conducted. I want…”

“Good afternoon. I want to thank Dr. Cole for being here today and for the extensive study that he has conducted. I want to thank Senator Paul Simon and the executives of the four major networks who agreed that this study should be done and then saw to it that it was done. Nothing is more important than strengthening our families and helping our parents to teach their children good values. We know that television can be a positive force or a destructive force in the lives of our children. Every parent knows that exposure to TV violence can be numbing and send the wrong message to their kids. And parents whose children grew up watching programs like ``Sesame Street,'' as our daughter did, know that television can teach as well as entertain. Parents need our help to protect their children from harmful or inappropriate forces from outside the home and help them pass on their values to their children. This is something our administration cares deeply about. Tipper Gore sounded the first alarm almost a decade ago in her book ``Raising PG Kids In An X-Rated Society.'' And Hillary wrote eloquently about this in her book. Today's comprehensive report shows that where broadcast television is concerned we are moving measurably in the right direction, away from violence and toward more programming for children. We have a long way to go, but we are making progress for our children. The study notes several positive trends over the past year, including a decrease in the number of TV series and made-for-TV movies with frequent violence; fewer broadcasts of violent films originally released in theaters; fewer children's series with sinister combat violence; an increase in the use of advisories about violence. The picture is not all bright. Theatrical movies are still the most violent programs when they're broadcast on television. Even promotional ads for these films are violent. Some primetime specials have begun to feature real and staged animal attacks. Emerging broadcast networks are showing a higher percentage of violent shows. So there is work still to be done. But this work has been begun, and it is bearing fruit. Everyone has a responsibility in bringing this kind of change: parents, the entertainment industry, government, each of us as individuals. Step by step, working together, our administration, especially the Vice President and I, have worked to make television better for our families, since my first year in office when I commended the leaders of broadcast television for their decision to include parental advisories on violence. We have challenged the entertainment industry to find their way back to family pro- gramming, and challenged parents to do their part as well. We insisted that the Telecommunications Act require new TV sets to include a violence chip, a V-chip, that will give parents the ability to screen out violent or inappropriate programming for their young children. In my State of the Union Address, I challenged broadcasters to develop voluntary rating systems that would enable the V-chip to work. And earlier this year in a conference at the White House, the entertainment industry showed very good citizenship in agreeing to set up a voluntary rating system. Over a year ago I asked the FCC to broadcast air at least 3 hours of educational children's programming each week. Last July, I invited the leaders of the entertainment industry and children's television and others to meet me in the White House to discuss how to improve the quality of children's television. As a result, I reached agreement with the broadcasters on a proposal under which each broadcaster now will air 3 hours a week of educational children's programming. The FCC adopted the proposal, and the market for educational television for children is now booming. I want to commend the entertainment industry for stepping up to this issue. And of course, I want to thank the thousands of parents across our country who served as a conscience and a prod for so long. The progress we're making shows how we can best meet our challenges: working together, employing common sense, and finding common ground. It accomplishes nothing simply to rail against violence. That's like yelling at the TV or the movie screen alone in a room. We will continue to sit down, to work with entertainment leaders, to fight for the public interest. I'm confident we will continue to make progress for our families, and again, I want to thank Dr. Jeff Cole for the fine work that he has been doing. I'd like to ask him to come up now and make a few remarks about the report. Dr. Cole? [At this point, Dr. Jeffrey I. Cole, director, UCLA Center for Communication Policy, gave a brief update on the study.] 1996 Election”