Guidelines on violence

Press, 28 March 1979, Page 19

Guidelines on violence

NZPA London Television must take a share of the blame for human misfortune, but it should not be made a con-

venient scapegoat, says a 8.8. C. report. The report, issued by the 8.8. C. to its producers as a guide in making programmes, said frequentlylevelled charges that TV programmes are full of “sex and violence” were exaggerated. Il went on to say: “Research suggests that there is a connection between the amount of viewing of violent, films and the extent of teen-age violent behaviour.” The report, which updates similar guidelines issued in 1972. said: “Unnecessary violence not only offends many ordinary viewers but may do positive harm to them.” It warned that violence shown in TV news bulletins should never be sensationalised. “Film reports should never linger on the corpses of the dead or the sufferings of the wounded.” The guidelines said that children and teenagers were likely to be disturbed by violence in a setting that resembles home.