Author: Anthony Springer Jr (hiphopdx.com)
BET suffered another setback this week when several advertisers pulled spots from popular network programs due to images of violence and profanity.
According to Paul Porter of media watchdog group, Industry Ears and CNN, Proctor and Gamble, Pepsi and General Motors pulled their ads from Rap City and 106 & Park after the companies viewed “The Rap on Rap,” a content analysis of BET and MTV programming.
The study found that children were exposed to violence, profanity or obscenity once every 38 seconds.
According to a CNN report, BET Chairman and CEO, Debra Lee dismissed the study, saying the network pays attention to the content it airs and edits videos.
“It’s geared for kids but the content is for adults,” Porter told HipHopDX. “That’s what the study shows.”
Porter also asserts that responsibility for monitoring content should not solely rest on parents of minors. “The standard excuse is about parents, but there’s supposed to be corporate responsibility too.”
He goes on to add that the images of black people on networks like BET effect more than just the young people exposed to the content. “We’re the only ones presented like this in the world. It effects you globally, on your job, with the police.”
While Porter—a former media executive himself—is a harsh critic of the network, he is not without solutions for the Viacom network.
“Balance,” he says of the solution, adding that every video shown does not have to be about violence, sex, or materialism.
“We’ve been stuck on this fake gangster stuff. Black people have so many different shades and nobody is talking about lifting each other up.”
From talking to Porter, it’s clear that his agenda is not geared toward outright censorship, but more about common sense.
“I listen to the same crazy shit in my car,” he says before adding, “but I’m not going to play it for a nine-year-old.”
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