REPORT SUMMARY
Many more Americans express concern about the amount of violence on entertainment television programs than about the increasingly violent content of broadcast news. TV news, while seen as containing more graphic violence than in the past, is also seen as reflecting the reality of a violent society.
Further, a large sector of the public appears desentized to violent video in newscasts because of the graphically brutal movies and entertainment television programs it watches.
These are the principal findings of a recent Times Mirror nationwide survey (of 1,516 Americans conducted February 20-23) which found that while more people think the news is too full of violence, fewer people today than in the 1980’s believe that the news exaggerates the amount of violence in America. The poll also learned that heavy consumers of action movies, reality crime shows and other violent fare are less uneasy about the violent content of tv news and do not want to be sheltered from reporting of graphic violence, as do many other Americans.
