[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 63 (Thursday, May 19, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
       TONY COX'S SPEECH BEFORE THE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN CLUB

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I would like to express my special 
thanks to Tony Cox, the chairman and CEO of Showtime Networks, Inc., 
and the chairman of the National Cable Television Association's 
Satellite Network Committee. In my many years of working on the issue 
of television violence, Tony stands out as one of the entertainment 
industry's most sincere and responsive leaders.
  I am especially pleased that the National Cable Television 
Association, under Tony's direction, has recently hired an independent 
monitor to analyze and report on the portrayal of violence in 
television programming. Their selection, MediaScope, is an excellent 
and credible choice, and I commend the cable industry for what appears 
to be a strong commitment to improving the quality of television 
programming.
  In addition, I would like to share with my colleagues Tony's recent 
speech before the Washington Metropolitan Club. His remarks, which 
outline the cable industry's ``Voices Against Violence'' initiative, 
together with the National Cable Television Association's selection of 
MediaScope as an independent monitor, are indicative of the cable 
industry's pledge to ``do better.'' I applaud their efforts thus far 
and look forward to continuing our ongoing dialog on this important 
issue.
  I ask that Mr. Cox's speech be printed in full at this point in the 
Record.
  The speech follows:

     Remarks of Winston H. Cox, Showtime Networks Inc., Before the 
              Washington Metropolitan Club, April 13, 1994

       Thank you for inviting me to be with you today. Today I am 
     here to discuss a topic of considerable importance to our 
     society: one that is discussed daily throughout the nation, 
     in Congress, on the news, in classrooms and in living rooms 
     across the country. The topic is violence.
       Today there is no greater threat to the well-being of our 
     country than the widespread violence that exists everywhere. 
     When, recently, two more young foreign visitors to Florida 
     were shot dead in their rental car, a British press observer 
     perhaps said it best when he lamented that the decline of 
     America will ultimately be traced to our obsession with guns 
     and violence. President Clinton has recognized the importance 
     of this issue by speaking out in a series of televised Public 
     Service Announcements on the awful impact of violence, 
     especially upon children.
       Television is not without its critics, and also not without 
     its responsibilities on this issue. Many people, especially 
     in Washington, are regularly and loudly pointing their finger 
     at television violence as the major cause of the violence 
     found in our society. This is said notwithstanding that, 
     nearly all the television programming and feature films 
     produced in this country are exported to Europe, to Canada, 
     to Japan where violence is really not a major social issue. 
     This is said notwithstanding that, my children for example, 
     have grown up fully exposed to television including the 
     violent shows, have graduated from college, have gotten jobs 
     and are well on their way to becoming responsible productive 
     citizens, seemingly unmotivated towards violent behavior. I 
     suspect a loving family, decent schools and other factors 
     have had more to do with shaping my kids then what they 
     watched on television.
       Just yesterday, the Carnegie Corporation released the 
     results of a three year study of American children. This 
     report paints a bleak picture of millions of young children 
     so deprived of medical care, loving supervision and 
     intellectual stimulation that their growth into healthy and 
     responsible adults is threatened. Disintegrating families, 
     proverty, drugs, crime and guns--these are the real issues. 
     But we all know that TV violence is a much easier dragon to 
     slay than the other nightmares I have just listed.
       Having made that point, this is not to deny or ignore the 
     role television plays in fostering or preventing violence. 
     After all if television viewing did not influence behavior, 
     then General Motors, Coca Cola, McDonalds and other large 
     companies have been wasting their advertising money all these 
     years. No responsible programmer can deny the influence of 
     television on behavior including violent behavior.
       This recognition and concern led cable programmers to 
     commission an independent study of violence in cable 
     originated programming and to adopt a four-point program 
     outlining the industry's position. These efforts continued 
     and culminated with the ``Voices Against Violence'' 
     initiatives introduced approximately two months ago, copies 
     of which are available for you.
       ``Voices Against Violence'' is a voluntary and 
     comprehensive program developed by the cable programmers 
     which embraces three broad goals to address violence on 
     television. The goals are to:
       1. Inform viewers about the levels of violence contained in 
     cable programs, thereby allowing them to exercise appropriate 
     judgment about their own viewing choices and those of their 
     families.
       2. Reduce and eliminate the gratuitous use of violence 
     depicted as an easy and convenient solution to human 
     problems.
       3. Use the cable industry's own resources to address the 
     broader issue of violence in society through cable 
     programming, educational measures, public service advertising 
     campaigns and public forums.
       From these broad objectives, we have developed a series of 
     initiatives or action steps.
       Most cable networks have joined together in support of this 
     program and leading industry executives have agreed to chair 
     task forces that will oversee the major parts of the program. 
     Today I would like to update you on the progress we are 
     making on our initiatives.
       First, critical viewing workshops, which really teach 
     parents and children how to watch TV, have been held in San 
     Diego and Philadelphia and are scheduled for Wichita and 
     Columbus in May. These workshops, led by media education 
     authorities, help parents, teachers and children learn how to 
     view television more critically, especially as it relates to 
     violence, and to make distinctions between what is real and 
     what is fantasy, or distortion, or myths. Cable in the 
     Classroom, an industry supported program which gives 34 
     million children access to educational programming on cable 
     television, is the sponsor of these critical viewing 
     workshops.
       In addition, cable networks are also using their own 
     programming to educate viewers on the issue of societal 
     violence. MTV is launching a comprehensive anti-violence 
     campaign, including an April 19th forum in which President 
     Clinton will hold a town meeting with 200 young adults. MTV's 
     new campaign is called ``Enough is Enough.'' We are all aware 
     of the tremendous impact of previous MTV campaigns on young 
     viewers, most recently the ``Choose or Lose'' campaign 
     surrounding the last Presidential election.
       This week, The Family Channel is taping a series designed 
     to address crime and violence in small cities and rural 
     communities. Its aim is to get citizens and local 
     organizations to work together to address the issue of 
     violence in society.
       Court TV recently initiated a multi-faceted program called 
     ``American Violence, American Justice'' that includes 
     education segments about crime and the courts, town meetings 
     and school seminars. These are but a few of the many programs 
     that Timothy Robertson, President & CEO of the Family Channel 
     and Ruth Otte, President of Discovery Network will oversee as 
     heads of the Educational task force.
       Second, the cable networks along with the broadcast 
     networks, agreed to Senator Simon's proposal for an 
     independent monitor to report on violence in television 
     programming. A month ago we issued an RFP for the outside 
     monitor and have received an excellent response. The 
     selection process is underway. I am pleased that this past 
     week, the network broadcasters also issued an RFP for an 
     outside monitor indicating their commitment to this plan. I 
     am concerned that two separate efforts by cable and broadcast 
     will not serve the public interest and could undermine the 
     process, so we will continue to work to bring cable and 
     broadcast networks together. I believe the entertainment 
     industry will be ultimately better served by a unified 
     position. Kay Koplovitz, President & CEO of USA Networks will 
     work with me in heading the Outside Monitor task force.
       Third, cable networks are devoting significant financial 
     resources to address the broader issue of violence in society 
     through public service advertising campaigns and public 
     forums. President Clinton recently unveiled a set of PSA's 
     urging Americans to stop the violence and calling on them to 
     suggest ways to achieve that goal. In a separate meeting, the 
     President commended the television industry's efforts to date 
     and encouraged us to also become part of the solution. The 
     PSA's are currently running on 32 cable networks since being 
     introduced by the President. Beyond that, cable networks will 
     develop a number of messages and other outreach efforts aimed 
     at reducing violence. HBO Chairman Michael Funchs and Judith 
     McGrath, President of MTV, will head the task force on 
     Outreach Efforts to Reduce Societal Violence.
       Fourth, Cable Programmers are developing a violence rating 
     system that will give viewers more information about a 
     program's violent content prior to viewing. This will expand 
     upon the advisories that have been in place for sometime at 
     many networks. We are investing maximum efforts towards 
     responsible scheduling; that is scheduling programs with 
     violent content during hours when children are not expected 
     to be watching. Moreover, the majority of national cable 
     networks already have standards and practices that govern 
     their use of violence in programming. I am pleased to 
     announce that Douglas McCormick, President & CEO of Lifetime 
     Television and Nicholas Davatzes, President & CEO of Arts & 
     Entertainment will head the task force on Ratings, Parental 
     Advisories and Responsible Scheduling.
       Fifth, the cable industry is also progressing on the 
     development of viewer discretion technology, or the so-called 
     ``V'' chip. During the past six weeks, cable industry 
     engineers have held meetings to discuss a cost effective and 
     user friendly technology to be used by viewers to control the 
     availability of violent programming in their homes. More 
     progress is expected on this front in the coming months. 
     Viewer discretion technology and a ratings system go hand in 
     hand. To give parents the ability to shut off a program they 
     deem too violent for children, you must somehow encode or 
     rate the show for the technology to work.
       Finally, Joshua Sapan, President of Rainbow Programming 
     Holdings which operates networks such as American Movie 
     Classics and Bravo will head up ``Voices Against Violence 
     Week.'' This special week will feature cable programming 
     dedicated to anti-violence themes and will include 
     initiatives developed with education, law enforcement and 
     civic communities.
       Opponents of these initiatives may cry censorship or feel 
     they do not go far enough. I disagree with both. I believe 
     these measures give viewers more information and control so 
     that they can make better informed decisions for themselves 
     and for their families. The Motion Picture Association of 
     America's move rating system has been around for many years, 
     and I would not call that censorship. I do not feel that the 
     ``R'' rating of a movie infringes upon anyone's right to free 
     speech, however, it does let the viewer know about the movies 
     content. In a 500-channel universe where viewing choices will 
     be plentiful, I think our measures actually liberate 
     programming options rather than censor or limit them. By 
     giving viewers the technological capability shut off 
     undesired programming, there is less need to restrict 
     content. Viewers will be empowered to do it themselves.
       I would also caution those feel these initiatives are 
     insufficient or will be ineffective and are ready to seek 
     solutions with legislation or regulation. In the effort to 
     reduce violence on television, care should be taken not to 
     trample on the right of free speech. The First Amendment to 
     the constitution also must not be a victim of violence. The 
     creative community should continue to have the freedom to 
     produce material without fear of government censorship. We 
     believe that a voluntary approach with meaningful efforts by 
     the entire entertainment community, which is what is 
     happening, will yield far better results.
       Concluding we recognize the major role television plays in 
     American society and we are taking a more serious look at the 
     way violence is used in our programming through the 
     initiatives I have just outlined. We question whether 
     television violence should be at the top of the national 
     agenda in light of the other societal problems which are the 
     real underpinnings of violence Nevertheless, we believe all 
     sectors of society have an obligation to find solutions to 
     the problem of violence in our society. But this is not a 
     problem that any one of us can solve alone, it will require a 
     continued effort and commitment from all of us in this room, 
     in this City and in this Nation.
       Thank you very much.

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