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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:29 pm
Time: 10:29 pm
Results for television violence (u.k.)
1 results foundAuthor: Ofcom Title: Audience Attitudes Towards Violent Content on Television Summary: The Communications Act 2003 requires Ofcom to draw up a Broadcasting Code ("the Code") which sets out standards for the content of television and radio services. The rules in the Code seek to ensure that members of the public, and in particular children, are protected from inappropriate violent material. Violence shown before the 9pm watershed must be appropriately limited and justified by the context, while violence included in a television programme broadcast at any time must comply with generally accepted standards. Ofcom's research about parents and pre-watershed television in 2011 indicated that violence broadcast before the watershed is a key concern for parents who expressed some concern about what their children had seen on TV before 9pm in the previous 12 months. Among all parents surveyed, violence was the concern most frequently mentioned (20 per cent), followed by sexually explicit content (17 per cent)1. These results were broadly confirmed by similar 2012 research. In Ofcom's latest research (published in October 2013) one in five parents of children aged 5-15 (19%) said they were concerned about what their child had seen on pre-watershed television2. The key concerns mentioned by parents included offensive language, sex and sexually explicit content and violence. The types of programme most frequently mentioned by parents were soaps, reality programmes and films. In 2013 and 2014, Ofcom also investigated some high profile cases involving material which featured violent scenes broadcast before the 9pm watershed or in the transition period immediately after 21:00. In applying the rules in the Code which relate to violent material, Ofcom must keep itself informed about viewers' attitudes to violent content. We also need to understand the contextual factors which shape viewers' opinions on the extent to which children need to be protected from violent material on television, and on how generally accepted standards should be applied in relation to this sort of content. For these reasons Ofcom commissioned for the first time a programme of qualitative research among UK audiences to provide an up to date understanding of public attitudes towards violence in pre-watershed and transition programming. Jigsaw Research carried out this study. A brief summary of the research and its main findings are set out in the Executive Summary. Further detail is contained in the main report. The main aim of this research is to understand current public attitudes towards programmes containing violence on television. The research is qualitative. It explores the views of a range of participants across the UK, including parents and young people, on a variety of examples of violent material that had already been broadcast pre-watershed or immediately after the watershed. The material includes depictions of individual acts of violence, both real and fictional, and content which has a threatening or malevolent tone. Because this research is not a quantitative study its results do not seek to provide a definitive measure of the proportion of the UK population who hold specific opinions. Overall we expect that this research report will in particular: - assist Ofcom in updating its Code guidance to broadcasters about violence on TV (Sections One and Two of the Code); - inform Ofcom's application of the Code rules when investigating broadcast material containing violence, particularly when this is shown before or soon after the watershed; and - update viewers and other stakeholders about current attitudes to and perceptions of violence on TV. Key findings - Time of broadcast is the single most important factor in the acceptability of violent content on television. - Differing demographic groups show only subtle differences in their approach to violent content, but all agree children should not be exposed to sexual violence on television under any circumstances. - Viewers have a sophisticated ability to analyse contextual factors when assessing the acceptability of violent content on television, and many confirm that violent content contributes to their experience of television. - Viewers suggested five key questions to be asked when judging the acceptability of a violent scene on television: - What time is the violent scene shown? - Who is the victim of the violence? - What is the act of violence? - How is the violence presented? - What is the purpose of the violent scene? 1.2. Aims This research provides evidence to: - establish a contextual understanding of public attitudes towards television programmes containing violence; - investigate attitudes and opinions towards individual acts of violence, violent scenes or material which is threatening or menacing in tone; - gain an understanding of generally accepted standards of violence during these pre- and the post-watershed transition periods; and - understand how reactions or levels of offence vary amongst audiences and establish what factors influence acceptability. Details: London: Ofcom, 2014. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 22, 2014 at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/tv-research/violence/Violence_on_TV_Report.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/tv-research/violence/Violence_on_TV_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 132734 Keywords: Media ViolenceTelevision Violence (U.K.) |