Published March 1993 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd New Poll Evinces Growing Concern About Television Violence
A major television network executive has announced plans to cut back on violence in his fall lineup because television violence may be hurting society. I commend that decision. For some time, I have decried the quality of much commercial programming. I have no authority over the content of commercial television programming, and criticism of culture by an elected official often elicits outcries against censorship. But my criticism of television violence is finding widespread echoes among the public. A recent nationwide Harris Poll indicates that roughly 80 percent of the American people believe that gratuitous television violence is harmful to our country, and those polled are increasingly disturbed by such programming. Understandably, people aged 50 and more were the most concerned about televised violence and the most infrequent viewers of violence- prone programs, while viewers under age 30 were more tolerant of such violence. Interestingly, one group least concerned about television violence was teenagers, who were also among the heaviest viewers of "real-life" crime shows that feature violent real-life film footage. Unfortunately, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, in 1990, a total of 4,173 teenagers were victims of firearms- related violence -random murders, gang clashes, etc. -- the highest firearm death rate among 15- to 19-year-olds ever recorded in America. Reared on television as an electronic babysitter from the cradle, many of those who perpetrated these murders grew up unable to differentiate between the make-believe on the television screen and real life, leading to the acting-out of engrained disvalues learned alike from crime shows and fictitious "shoot-em-ups." I have no desire to be a television critic, per se. My concern is for the future quality of life in West Virginia and across our country. I hope that decreased violence on one television network is the harbinger of a trend toward renewed responsibility in the media. I hope that others in the entertainment field will follow suit. At stake is the spiritual and moral well-being of our state and nation. March 31, 1993