Editorial: Industry should be pilloried

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 10:38 a.m.

Congress held a hearing Wednesday to look into the entertainment industry's marketing of violent material to children. Music, film and video game companies were in for a rude awakening if they thought things would go better than they did during a congressional hearing two weeks ago. The Senate Commerce Committee was primed Wednesday by a New York Times story -- published the same day the executives testified before the committee -- that detailed how the companies explicitly marketed violent films to children. In addition, the movie industry was ridiculed for its statement that it would do a better job of restricting exposure to violent films. The policy is confusing and so riddled with loopholes that it cast doubt on how serious the industry is about this issue.

The Times story, which reported on memos leaked to the newspaper from a Federal Trade Commission investigation of the entertainment industry, was devastating, clearly showing how violent products are test-marketed to children as young as 9. For instance, the violent, R-rated Sylvester Stallone movie "Judge Dredd" was shown to a focus group between the ages of 13 to 16. That's just one of many examples of the industry's irresponsible attempts to get underage children to watch their violent trash.

The entertainment industry has a long way to go before it can say with a straight face that it has cleaned up its act, but the fact is free-speech rights still must trump government regulation. For that matter, these latest revelations should impress even more upon parents how essential it is for them to know what their children are watching.