The trouble with codes

Many of the potential pitfalls inherent in the theoretically sensible idea of self-policing are sure to be debated over the next few weeks in the wake of the first controversial decision by the Ontario regional council of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.

After watching 10 episodes of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and clocking the violence at between 25% to 35% of the running time, the complaints-driven watchdog voted unanimously that the show consistently violated five articles of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ self-imposed code pertaining to violence in children’s programs.

From this point on, the clear decision gets clouded, as only one of the three broadcasters carrying the show in Canada, Global Television, is a cab member. While specialty service ytv and u.s.-based Fox Network also aired the show, the decision did not directly apply to them.

The fact that both the concerns of the public and the competitive interests of cab members would be inadequately protected until all industry sectors are universally answerable for tv violence was highlighted in the decision.

The cab reiterated its demand that consistent standards apply to cable and existing specialty services, saying that non-compliance of foreign signals is unfair to Canadian services adhering to the code.

Other than cab members, only the new pay and specialty services that went before the crtc in March and broadcasters seeking licence renewals thereafter are committed to honoring the cab violence code. While the cable industry and all existing pay and specialty services currently have code proposals before the crtc, many of which used cab as a model, a lot of to-ing and fro-ing is expected before final approval.

Further murkiness ensues after ytv voluntarily pulled Power Rangers off the air, while Global continued airing the kids’ show, pursuant to talks seeking code-compliance modifications from the show’s u.s. producer, Saban International. Global stated it would only consider pulling the show if suitable modifications weren’t possible, and Global spokesperson David Hamilton says the broadcaster hadn’t set a time frame for trying to establish a ‘critical path’ to make the show conform.

The cbsc cannot directly compel a broadcaster to take action, however broadcasters who fall under the code jurisdiction and persist in violating it may be asked to resign from the council. Beyond that, concerns could come under the crtc’s scrutiny and be treated as a condition of licence where the penalty for non-compliance could be as drastic as the crtc felt warranted.

The Power Rangers furor illustrates that in order for any tv violence protection mechanism to promptly, fairly and effectively act upon public concerns, all industry sectors should be following the same playbook with an authoritative referee – so broadcasters who do abide by a violence code are not penalized (by being the only ones unable to snatch mighty lucrative Power Rangers ad bucks).

The crtc expects ‘a lot of progress over the next year,’ and says self-regulation can work as part of a system that also includes things like the V-Chip screening technology that the ccta is testing, the development of an industry-wide classification system and media literacy programs.

But crtc’s Bill Allen cautions that the international aspect is key. ‘No one country can have a total solution just for itself.’