Cato Institute takes on PTC

Interesting to note that the right-wing libertarian Cato Institute is concerned about the actions of the Parents Television Council. The Benton Compolicy listserv points to a Jan. 4 piece by Adam Thierer, director of telecommunications studies at the Cato Institute. Predicting the next target of the PTC to be ABC's smash-hit "Desperate Housewives," Thierer warns us to "Get ready for another impassioned censorship crusade by the 'let's-censor-television-to-protect-the-children' crowd. In characterizing the PTC as "relentless censorship advocates" whose "automated complaint factory" is now targeted at the FCC, he goes on to echo a point I've drawn attention to more than once in mediaville:

Recent Freedom of Information Act requests to the FCC have revealed that the PTC has been responsible for over 98 percent of all indecency complaints to the FCC over the past two years. PTC is quickly coming to have a "heckler's veto" over programming in America as many of the shows they complain about receive significant fines or are even driven off the air.

But the best point he makes is the following:

I've always been particularly troubled by the fact that so many conservatives, who rightly preach the gospel of personal and parental responsibility about most economic issues, seemingly give up on this notion when it comes to cultural issues. Art, music, and speech are fair game for the Ministry of Culture down at the FCC, but don't let them regulate our cable rates! Conservatives and religious groups decry government activism in terms of educating our children, for example, but with their next breath call in Uncle Sam to play the role of surrogate parent when it comes to TV content. [emphasis added]

And remember, this is from a right-wing think tank. And to wrap things up, just for good measure, Thierer reminds us of the tenuousness of the strong effects thesis, i.e., the link between media sex and violence on the one hand, and cultural and societal indicators, which, he notes, are "showing signs of significant improvement." He reviews some statistics to buttress his argument (without citing sources, admittedly, but I think they are pretty solid all the same):

• Juvenile murder, rape, robbery and assault are all down significantly over the past decade.
  
• Overall, aggregate violent crime by juveniles fell 42% from 1995-2002.
  
• There are fewer murders at school today and fewer students report carrying weapons to school or anywhere else than at any point in the past decade.
  
• Alcohol and drug abuse has generally been falling and is currently at a 20-year low. Teen birth rates have hit a 20-year low and fewer teens are having sex today than they were 15 years ago.
  
• High school dropout rates continue to fall steadily, as they have for the past 30 years.
  
• And while teenage suicide rates rose steadily until the mid-1990s, they then began a dramatic decline that continues today.
  

All in all, not a bad piece. While there are any number of things about the Cato Institute with which I vehemently disagree, I happen to think that on this particular issue of media regulation, Thierer is bang on the money. (Oops, does this mean I'm a closet libertarian?) :-)