-Caveat Lector- 06/15] CHICAGO, June 15 (Reuters) - Executives from some of the leading entertainment producers on Tuesday defended their right to produce violent and sexually explicit programming, despite calls from Washington for the entertainment industry to exercise greater self-restraint. "I don't think we have anything to be ashamed of," said Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom International Inc. [VIA], the $12 billion entertainment giant with businesses ranging from cable television channels like MTV to the Paramount Pictures movie studio. The April 20 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Co., in which two students killed 13 people before taking their own lives, has inspired renewed efforts in Congress and at the White House to control guns and limit the access of children and teens to violent entertainment. "I'm outraged by a lot of what we hear blaming the media for what's going on," Redstone told a panel at the National Cable Television Association conference here. "The same motion pictures that are distributed in the United States are distributed in Canada and in England and the kids don't kill each other as a result of seeing those movies." President Bill Clinton has called on the industry to be more responsible and asked the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department to conduct a study of violence in entertainment geared towards children. Some in Congress have sought to impose limits on offerings made available to kids in a variety of media. Gerald Levin, chairman of Time Warner Inc. [TWX] that owns cable channels like HBO and CNN, rejected those efforts, arguing the real blame for recent tragedies like the shootings in Littleton lie elsewhere. "We have basically obscene politics at work drawing attention away from the issues that are really important," Levin said, naming gun control, teacher training and campaign finance reform as more appropriate targets of political attention. "It really is an outrage to me, and then to spend money on the so-called FTC or Justice Department investigation of the practices of the entertainment industry," Levin said. "We need to distinguish between the political games that are being played and the proper role of government." And if programmers produce violent shows, cable operators are poorly positioned to intervene directly, according to Brian Roberts, president of Comcast Corp. [CMCSA]. Instead, cable operators are supporting technologies like the v-chip and Internet filtering software to empower parents to screen out objectionable material, he said. "It's very tough as an operator to say...I'm not going to carry that channel or I'm going to pick a program and block it out," Roberts said. "I think that's a very hard area to travel down." Redstone argued against the criticism of sexually explicit content along with violent programming. "Lets distinguish between violence and sex," he said. "Violence is bad. Sex is good." "We have to recognize we live in a great country of free choice and we can't determine what you should see or what you should hear," he added. "To pretend to be able to do that is unrealistic. It's not going to happen." Last Updated: 06/15/99 18:02 EDT Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. http://legalnews.findlaw.com/news DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
