The Vast Wasteland

“As the prime House author of the Children’s Television Act, I am pleased the commission is pursuing serious and vigorous enforcement of violations,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet. “This is a particularly egregious case and the level of the proposed fine reflects it. Rather than giving kids programming that is educationally nourishing, Univision elected to give them the Spanish-language equivalent of a soap opera..”

To tell you the truth, I'm not buying the fact that the Federal Communications Commission will be more aggressively enforcing the Children's Television Act after fining Univision a record $24 million for pushing telenovels as E/I programing for children.

When Univision began broadcasting a show three years ago about the misadventures of 11-year-old identical twin girls who swapped identities after discovering they had been separated at birth, it characterized the episodes as educational programming for children.

That decision is expected to cost Univision, the nation’s largest Hispanic network, $24 million in what would be the largest fine the Federal Communications Commission has ever imposed against any company. The penalty is also expected to send a strong signal to broadcasters that they will be expected to meet their required quota of shows that educate and inform children, after years of permissive oversight in this area.

These years of permissive oversight is the fault of the making of the Children's Television Act, which does not define what programing is considered educational and or information. Instead, Congress and the FCC let the broadcasting industry define it for themselves.

...the show, with complex subplots and occasional adult themes, had little value for young children.

In an affidavit accompanying the United Church’s complaint, Federico Subervi, a media consultant to such shows as “Dora the Explorer” and “The Misadventures of Maya and Miguel” said that “Complices” contained many adult plots and complex themes that were hardly suitable for young children.

If I were to produce a E/I program it would be a teenage live-action drama about a club of high school writers learning the material how they can improve their writing. If would be great E/I material because the theme of the show will be primary academic instead if soft social issues such as friendship and happiness. I would title the the show "The Rhetor Society".

Again, I doubt that the Commission would actually begin to enforce their own regulations.

“I generally think consumers are better served by less regulation, not more,” he said in an interview. “But I also think the commission has a key role to play in some areas, such as children’s television, and I take those obligations seriously.”

Because with weak regulations, the industries they supposed to regulate will find a way to make money while disregarding the law they are supposed to follow. In this case for E/I programing, they use it to make more money by putting ads for adult oriented products.

As further evidence that the program did not comply with the rules, Mr. Subervi noted that 80 percent of the advertising during the show was geared toward adults.

Sources:
Record Fine Expected for Univision (Free Press)
Univision Said to OK Record FCC Fine (Free Press)