TV Content Rating, Censorship: They Can Go Hand-in-Hand

In his Counterpunch piece (“Let’s Pave a High Road for TV Ratings System,” Dec. 9), Joel Federman attempted to dispute fears of censorship should television adopt a content-based ratings system, calling it an “unproved assumption” that content ratings will lead to a loss of advertisers.

In fact, this assumption is very much proved. The last time the anti-media violence crowd got its way was in the 1950s, when horror comic books like “Tales From the Crypt” were blamed for all of society’s ills, much like TV is being blamed now. A national comic book ratings system was instituted and stores were persuaded to stop carrying “violent” comics. As a result, the horror comics went out of business. Oddly, our societal ills didn’t decrease one iota.

Isn’t this just what Walmart and other chains are doing today by censoring music and movies that are deemed “indecent” or “violent?” Surely Federman, as a “TV violence researcher,” must be aware of these things. The notion that a content-based ratings system will lead to censorship is far more provable than the hysterical claims about how TV is somehow responsible for every negative aspect of human behavior.

DAVID COLE

Beverly Hills