WILL CODE CLOAK CENSORSHIP?
In the U.S. there has been much talk about the new content codes which will be carried by most of the free-to-air and cable networks.
Advertisers are likely to reject TV shows that carry the new content labels for sex, language, and violence that the major networks -- NBC excepted -- agreed to last month, producer Dick Wolf (Law & Order, Players, New York Undercover), claimed Monday.
Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Wolf asked, "What networks will stand behind the next generation of hard-hitting, issues-oriented adult dramas if, by their ratings, they become the focus of special-interest groups?"
Noting that he has experienced first-hand the wrath of these groups, Wolf charged that their goal is "economic censorship. It is not content identification; it is content control."
In Australia we have the similar content rules that have been accepted and seem to be working. But in the U.S. there is a real fear due to the special interest groups that have shown their commercial power by organising major boycotts of sponsor products.
The most current action is being taken against the Disney organisation on a couple of fronts. There are many others beside Dick Wolf who are fearful of the ramifications of the new rating system and the additional powers handed to the special-interest groups.
Remember, America gave us Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950's. There are still many in the U.S. government who would relish taking on his brand of "witch-hunt." The current Speaker of the House of Representatives is only one example.
