Entertainment

Rated R, For 'Regulation'?

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 11, 2000 / 9:27 AM EDT / CBS

A report claiming movie and video game companies market violent material to underage youth touched off a nasty exchange on the presidential campaign trail Monday, reports CBS News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts.

The findings of the report by the Federal Trade Commission spurred debate on whether government should regulate the entertainment industry.

The study says that even movies rated R—which require an adult to accompany children under 17 to the theater—and video games that carry an M rating—for people age 17 and over—are routinely targeted toward younger people.

Reacting to the report on what is a hot-button issue for key voter groups, Democratic nominee Al Gore said he would support legislation to sanction entertainment companies for such behavior.

His opponent, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, accused the vice president of hypocrisy for accepting donations from the entertainment industry and failing to address the problem earlier.

The report—based in part on documents submitted by the industry itself, including marketing plans—indicates that 80 percent of R-rated movies, 70 percent of mature-rated video games and 27 percent of music with explicit lyrics are marketed to kids under 17.

"The practice of pervasive and aggressive marketing of violent movies, music and electronic games to children undermines the credibility of the industries' ratings and labels," said the report.

"Such marketing frustrates parents' attempts to make informed decisions about their children's exposure to violent content," it added.

One document disclosed that a company's primary audience in selling M-rated video games was boys 12-17. Despite the age rating, "the younger the audience, the more likely they are to be influenced by TV advertising," it said.

A marketing plan for an R movie stated its purpose was to "make sure everyone between the ages of 12-18 was exposed to the film." Company names were edited out.

"It's their documents. They knew what they were doing," said FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky.

The report also said marketing tried to drive children to watch mature-themed television shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, South Park and Xena: The Warrior Princess.

Entertainment industry leaders questioned the conclusions of the year-long study, pointing out that movie and video game industries have voluntary age-based rating code systems, reports CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan.

"For 32 years, we have been giving advanced cautionary warnings to parents so they can make their own judgments, not the government's judgment, their judgments about what movie they want their children to see or not to see, " said Jack Valenti, head of the Motion Picture ssociation of America.

Valenti said an industry survey released 10 days ago that shows 81 percent of all parents with children under 13 find this rating system very useful to fairly useful in helping them guide the movie-going of their children.

But Peggy Charren, founder of Action for Children's Television, accused the industry Monday of "talking out of both sides of its mouth."

She said of industry leaders, "they're saying, 'Hey, we're giving you the ratings, leave us alone.' On the other hand, in their marketing strategies, they're saying, 'Let's get all the kids we can.'"

However, in an interview with CBS News Monday, Valenti argued, "If we are causing moral decay in this country, we ought to have an explosion of crime. The exact opposite is happening."

Pitofsky admits there's no direct evidence linking exposure to explicit merchandise and violent acts, but he says such exposure can cause aggressive attitudes and insensitivity to violence

Video game makers stress that more than 70 percent of their customers are over 18.

According to the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), the industry trade group, adults buy nine of every 10 video and computer games sold in the United States. Only 7 percent of video games sold and rated since 1995 fall into the mature category.

However, some in the industry say there is room for improvement.

Doug Lowenstein, president of the IDSA, said, "In some areas, clearly we need to do better. And the FTC report has highlighted some of those areas and we're committed to doing better. But government regulation, that's not the answer."

The Senate Commerce Committee plans to hold a hearing Wednesday on the findings, with vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D.-Conn., scheduled to attend. He and committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., backed a measure last year that requested the study.

The report does not suggest legislation, but seeks more effective self-regulation by the entertainment industry and enforcement of rating codes by retailers and theaters.

Few observers expect new laws governing content, but public pressure could force changes on the industry.

Some retailers have pledged to increase enforcement of the game code. Kmart announced last week that it would stop selling M-rated games to anyone under 17. Wal-Mart said it would adopt a similar policy. Other chains, including Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Co., have stopped selling the M-rated games altogether.