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Parents Television Council Says American Idol Finale Crossed the Line

Lin — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:15 +0000

Parents’ Television Council is angry about the American Idol Season 8 Finale results show, aired on May 20, saying American Idol crossed the line of decency and cautioned FOX that the popular “family-friendly”, “family-hour”, prime-time show may alienate viewers. Parents Television Council (PTC) is a self-proclaimed, non-partisan Watch Dog group, founded by Brett Bozell in 1995 as an “education organization advocating responsible entertainment, to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media”.

PTC President, Tim Winter, says the “finale of American Idol demonstrated all the aspects that make television great — a months-long competition coming down to two finalists with a Cinderella story ending. Unfortunately, it also demonstrated what’s wrong with television when Fox decided that gratuitous shock value in front of a huge family audience is a good thing, rather than a bad thing. If Fox isn’t careful, they will alienate the family audience foundation upon which the success of Idol has been built.”

PTC voted American Idol on Fox the worst TV show of the week, followed by Family Guy in the number 2 spot. Vote For The Worst, probably the bane of American Idol’s existence, flippantly reported: “PTC is angry that Kara DioGaurdi took her dress off, Bikini Girl made an appearance, and the Black Eyed Peas performed a song with swear words in it.” VFTW concludes that PTC’s concerns about Katrina Darrell’s return as the Bikini Girl showing off her “new enhancements”, and the Black Eyed Peas performance of “Boom Boom Pow” with sexual lyrics and profanity means “they’re just homely old shrews who need to get a life”.

According to Reuter’s write-up on PTC, Americans would have to be living under a rock not to have noticed the steady “increase of sex, violence and profane language shown during the traditional, early-evening “family hour” of broadcast television viewing”, where families with young children and tween/teens gather around their television sets for “family-oriented” programming. But, perhaps parents and concerned citizens are all just “old shrews who need to get a life” as VFTW would have you believe.

According to a study by Parents Television Council, entitled The Alarming Family Hour…No Place For Children (PDF), instances of violence during family-hour broadcast TV had increased by 52.4 percent since it conducted a similar study in 2001, while the amount of sexual content grew by 22.1 percent, amongst other concerns. The “Family Hour” time slot includes television programs starting between the hours of 8 and 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and between 7 and 9 p.m. on Sundays, in the Eastern (EST) time zone (7 to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday in the Central time zone).

The PTC summary says “The American public is overwhelmingly concerned. In a March 2007 Zogby Poll, 79% of respondents agreed that there is too much sex, violence and coarse language on television. Other surveys have shown that parents are so fed up that they would welcome more government regulation to rein-in television content. However, through responsible self-regulation, the entertainment industry might eliminate the need for further legislative or regulatory action.”

Not surprisingly, TV Watch, a group opposed to “increased government regulation of television broadcasting”, quickly criticized the study saying PTC used “faulty analysis, biased methodology and suspect omissions to influence the debate and raise money” as part of an ongoing effort to influence regulators and lawmakers to take family viewing decisions out of the hands of parents and give them to the government.

Jim Dyke, executive director of TV Watch, says parents have the “means to control and monitor what their kids watch, with the use of the “V-chip” feature built into TV sets that allow parents to set controls based on program ratings”. Television ratings and movie ratings claiming TV programs and movies are appropriate for children should only be viewed as a guide for parents, as programs become more “edgy”, “hip”, “keeping up with the changing times”, etc.

Parents of young kids, under the age of 17, if you and/or your kids watched the American Idol Finale Results Show, raise your hand. Were you at all surprised, even shocked by any of the performances or lyrics? Did you put your trust in FOX and American Idol big-wigs to choose child, tween/teen appropriate songs and performances for your family? American Idol ratings scored an all-time low for the Idol finale results show, the lowest rated finale EVER in the show’s history, where Kris Allen was crowned the new American Idol over fellow contestant Adam Lambert. The reasons for the low ratings are up for debate.

Some parents felt they were blindsided by Flo-rida’s Right Round performance on American Idol, never having heard of the rapper before the show aired, only to discover the lyrics left parents of younger children scrambling for the remote. Where will FOX draw the line between “staying current” and being over-the-top? Time will tell, but parents would do well to do their research ahead of showtime to find out everything they can about performers, songs being sung, and the associated lyrics and make an informed decision of whether to watch or not.

“Increased government regulation”? How about just enforcing decency laws already on the books? PTC’s FAQ’s page clearly states that they’re in agreement that parents are primarily responsible for their child’s television viewing habits. However, PTC makes this analogy regarding joint responsibility for television content:

The fact that parents are ultimately responsible for their children’s upbringing does not free the entertainment industry from taking responsibility for their product. The assertion that the sole responsibility lies with parents is a self-justifying claim usually made by people who wish to evade accountability. It is much like pumping sewage into a town’s river, while maintaining that parents are responsible for protecting the health of their own children. Parental responsibility is the beginning, not the end, of the story.

Regarding the question, “If you don’t like something on television, why don’t you just change the channel?”, PTC says this:

Television is the most public and powerful means of mass communication. It drives changes in social customs, speech, and attitudes, especially among youth. Because of its pervasiveness and persuasiveness, opting out is an entirely inadequate response to the dramatic rise in the amount of televised graphic sex, obscene and profane language, and gratuitous violence found on television today. These depictions affect everyone, including our children’s classmates and friends. Vulgar television means a more vulgar society; sex-saturated television means sexualized children stripped of their innocence; violent television results in desensitization to violence.

TV Trends columnist, Chritopher Gildemeister, writes in his article entitled “Networks Change Their Tune on TV’s Influence” how FOX (supported by CBS, NBC, ABC, the ACLU and others) told the Supreme Court (regarding the 1978 FCC vs. Pacifa decision) that “the broadcast networks should not be subject to decency laws. This would mean that the networks would be able to use any foul language they want, in any amount, at any time of day – no matter how many children are watching. In fact, the networks went so far as to say that broadcast decency laws are a violation of the First Amendment.”

The results of a June 2007 TV Watch Poll (PDF-opens in new window) is quite telling, as far as the percentage of parents who actually monitor their children’s television, computer and internet use versus those who don’t. Some parents are seriously slacking in their responsibilities towards their children. I don’t subscribe to the idea of increased government regulations, but I do believe media marketers as a whole have grave responsibility in what is being projected towards children and teens on TV, magazines, clothing styles, movies etc, and that existing decency laws should be enforced.

What do you think? Was the Idol Finale Over the top, too controversial, too “sexy”, too……something? Why do you think the American Idol ratings are so low?

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7 Things Meme – 7 Things You May Not Know About Me

Lin — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:00:35 +0000

I’ve been tagged with the 7 Things Meme by Todd Morris from Success With Todd, so I thought I’d participate in this meme since I forgot to do the 25 Random Things Meme that circulated Facebook pages not too long ago that I was also tagged with.

The 7 Things Meme Rules:

Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Okay, here goes. 7 things about me you may not know, or maybe don’t care to know.

1. The first record I ever owned was Mony Mony by Tommy James & The Shondells. I’m aging myself here, since the record was a Vinyl, 7″, 45 RPM, Single of the hit song. For the “last day of school party” in the 7th grade, my image of being a “cool kid” took a serious hit when students were told to bring in their favorite record to play during the party, and Mony Mony was the only record I owned at that time.

2. I’m a music fanatic, and I watch every season of American Idol, once the judges choose their Top list of finalists. I can’t stand watching/listening to the audition shows of people who truly suck at singing, and whose family or friends aren’t honest enough to tell potential contestants they suck, so they don’t embarrass themselves in front of millions of American Idol Fans. For the current American Idol Season 8, Adam Lambert is by far my favorite performer, and I predict the winner of American Idol this season will be a guy.

3. I’ve been on a Baby Shower Gifts shopping rampage lately, since my daughter’s baby shower is scheduled for next month. Checking out baby cribs was the first order of business to check off the baby needs checklist, and we were happy to find a gently-used crib in near perfect condition at a second-hand baby store. I don’t have any trouble coming up with baby gift ideas for my granddaughter that is due in May, and you can bet that having me as a grandma will undoubtedly mean she’ll be spoiled rotten.

4. I spend a lot of time at my computer at home and at work, which is likely the cause of my occasional severe lower back pain and symptoms of Carpal Tunnel, along with a recurring ganglion cyst “Bible bump” on my right hand which may require surgery to remove. Working in the Dental Field for almost twenty years now, as a Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) and Office Manager, I’ve spent many hours working on patients in the dental chair and lifting dental equipment and supplies that were/are too heavy to lift one-handed and now I’m paying for it in more ways than one.

5. My desire to quit my full-time Dental job and get paid to blog as a full-time blogger hasn’t changed, so I’ve been working hard to create more blogs that will help me reach my goal to make money from home and “retire” from my current job. While there is niche money to be made from a niche blog like Telling It Like It Is, I get frustrated when I read “you must have a niche” from bloggers who don’t follow their own “niche or no niche” advice and actually have a no niche blog themselves.

6. Speaking of money, the economy (such as it is) has created a lot of interest in setting goals and becoming smart with how we save or spend our money. Managing debt and saving money continues to be one of the top New Year’s resolutions for many people including me, who are trying to learn how to be frugal because of the economic recession, job layoffs, bank closings and home foreclosures. Even though my job is secure, my husband has been looking at ways to make a few extra dollars just in case he were to get laid off, and he’s been talking about starting a small home based business right alongside me.

7. I do all of my shopping online, except for grocery shopping, and I can’t remember the last time I bought a card or gift for anyone by actually walking into a brick-and-mortar store. Since my daughter announced she was pregnant a few months ago, I’ve been buying baby clothes online (and other cheap baby stuff) and hiding them at a friends house so my daughter’s curiosity won’t get the best of her and she finds the baby stroller that comes with an attached infant car seat that she’s been drooling over. I guess there is going to be a lot of drooling going on soon, and not just from my daughter.

Whew, I’ve completed the 7 Things Meme and my right hand and arm doesn’t even hurt. Yeah me!

Okay, here are the 7 people I’m going to tag with this meme, and hopefully they’ll all play along.

Rob from 2Dolphins
Rudy from the Rudy Amid Blog
RT from the Philippines blog
Periapex from Life’s Context
Cath from Cath Lawson
Jeff Nickles from My Super-ChargedLife
Reggie from Fragile Heart

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My Life Would Suck Without You Kelly Clarkson New Song Lyrics

Lin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:00:16 +0000

Kelly Clarkson’s new song, “My Life Would Suck Without You”, is sure to be a huge hit with Clarkson fans since its recent release on radio stations. Co-written and produced by song hit makers, Dr. Luke and Max Martin, Kelly Clarkson belts out the lyrics to her new song with predictable fervor. Whether you like the American Idol show or not, Clarkson definitely has a great set of vocal pipes!

When Clarkson sings “you got a piece of me”, Kelly fans may recall the feud between her and RCA label head Clive Davis (who publicly criticized Clarkson for attempting to take control of “My December”), only to be welcomed back following Kelly’s apology and the dumping of her manager and band.

The “My Life Would Suck Without You” YouTube video has been viewed nearly 400,000 times as of this writing, and her new song is included on Clarkson’s album entitled “All I Ever Wanted”, to be released March 17, 2009.

Clarkson naysayers feel this new song “sucks”, but I enjoy the fast tempo of Clarkson’s new single as well as her strong vocal ability, and I have a few of her cd’s in my ever increasing music collection.

Enjoy the video preview of Kelly Clarkson’s new single on YouTube, along with the words/lyrics to the song.

My Life Would Suck Without You Lyrics:

Guess this means you’re sorry
You’re standing at my door
Guess this means you take back
All you said before
Like how much you wanted
Anyone but me
Said you’d never come back
But here you are again

Cause we belong together now (yeah)
Forever united here somehow (yeah)
You got a piece of me and honestly
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you

Maybe I was stupid for telling you goodbye
Maybe I was wrong for tryin’ to pick a fight
I know that I’ve got issues
But you’re pretty messed up too
Anyway, I found out I’m nothing without you

Cause we belong together now (yeah)
Forever united here somehow (yeah)
You got a piece of me and honestly
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you

Being with you is so dysfunctional
I really shouldn’t miss you, but I can’t let go
Oh yeah

Cause we belong together now (yeah)
Forever united here somehow (yeah)
You got a piece of me and honestly
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you

Cause we belong together now (together now – yeah)
Forever united here somehow (yeah)
You got a piece of me and honestly
My life (my life) would suck (would suck) without you

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