Cantor presents TV violence ratings report to National Press Club

Which system of television ratings – the form used on broadcast or cable – is most effective in protecting the “rugrats” from excessive video violence?

Joanne Cantor, UW–Madison professor of communication arts, will present her findings on that subject at a National Press Club news conference in Washington D.C. Thursday, April 16.

Cantor is one of the researchers working on the National Television Violence Study. Conducted under the auspices of UW–Madison, Stanford University, the University of California-Santa Barbara and the University of Texas-Austin, the new study is the first to give a comprehensive perspective on TV violence trends, Cantor says.

Researchers analyzed more than 6,000 hours of TV programming from both the broadcast and cable networks. In addition to Cantor’s work on ratings, the research looks at designing anti-violence messages for television and violence in “reality” programming, such as the Fox Network’s program “Cops.” The research team will recommend a possible course of action useful to both parents and TV programmers.