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The Federal Communications Commission is currently considering modifying or eliminating existing media ownership rules. Children's advocates are concerned that any changes to these rules could negatively affect the already limited amount and types of programming available for children. Children Now conducted the first study to examine the availability and diversity of children programming in an increasingly consolidated media marketplace. Los Angeles was selected as a case study for this research because it is the second largest media market in the country, and two duopolies now exist among its television stations. The study compared the children's programming schedules from 1998, when the market's seven major commercial broadcast television stations were owned by seven different companies, to 2003, after consolidation reduced the number to five. The findings suggest that changes to the current ownership policies will have a serious impact on the availability and diversity of children's programming. Overall, the research shows there are fewer children's series, fewer broadcast hours, and an increase in repurposed (aired on more than one channel) programs in Los Angeles today compared to 5 years ago. (Author)

Television is an integral part of American culture, and has the ability to play a major role in shaping belief systems, particularly for the youngest and most impressionable viewers. This study is the third annual study of diversity of characters in prime time television programming. The study examined the first two episodes of each prime time entertainment series airing on the six broadcast networks. The findings indicate that despite ongoing emphasis, encouragement, and pressure on the part of media advocates, civil rights groups, government officials, and even some entertainment industry leaders, the networks have yet to produce a prime time season that is representative of the diversity that young people experience and will undoubtedly continue to experience as maturing adults. Among the major findings are the following: (1) family structures are more obvious for white youth than for youth of color; (2) a majority of white youth were shown interacting with their parents but only a fourth of Latino youth were shown doing the same; (3) African American families served exclusively as the focus of situation comedies; (4) marital and parental status was more easily identifiable for women than men; (5) gay and lesbian characters are increasingly visible, with white males playing the majority roles; (6) disabled characters are increasingly visible, also with white males playing the majority of roles; (7) positions such as service workers, unskilled laborers, and criminals were played only by persons of color; and (8) whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders were portrayed more often as professionals; African American and Latino characters were more often portrayed as law enforcement; and Native Americans were typecast as spiritual advisors. (HTH)

Children Now is an independent children's advocacy group that promotes solutions to problems facing American children, with particular attention to the needs of those who are poor or at risk. The group provides policy expertise and up-to-date information on the status of children. Children Now's Children and the Media Program works to improve the quality of news and entertainment media both for children and about children's issues, paying particular attention to media images of race, class, and gender. The Media Program commissioned this report, recognizing the local news media's vital influence on social and political progress regarding children. The report analyzes how local news broadcasts across the country cover children and children's issues. A month of locally produced evening news programs on the three major networks in six cities--Atlanta, Boston, Des Moines, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle--constitutes the data. Data are analyzed in three sections concerning children in the news: frequency and story style; content; and convergence of race and ethnicity. Findings indicate that children receive scant attention in local news stories, accounting for only 10 percent of all news stories. When children are covered, crime receives the most coverage--almost half of the total, followed by health, lifestyle issues, education, and politics and economics. Few stories focus on public policy issues. Children in these news stories are most likely to be depicted as victims. Youth of color account for slightly more than one third of news stories about children; most of these involve African American children. Latino and African American children are somewhat more likely to be placed in the context of explicit violence. The report recommends greater breadth and balance in news media's coverage of children and children's issues in order to improve children's self images and assist policymakers, community members, and the public making informed decisions for children's well-being. (JPB)

Based on the view that the level of market penetration of video games combined with the high levels of realism portrayed in these games make it important to investigate the messages video games send children, this report details a study of the 10 top-selling video games for each of 6 game systems available in the United States and for personal computers. The report identifies some of the unhealthy social messages such games may be sending to young players about violence, gender, and race and contains ideas for improving games for children. The report also answers frequently asked questions about video violence. Findings of the study of 70 games revealed that video games often glorified violence, ignored women and people of color, and reinforced racial and gender stereotypes. Video games were overwhelmingly violent, with nearly every game containing some violent content and too often without consequence to the perpetrator or the victim. Comparisons across game systems revealed considerable variation. A list of the video games examined completes the report. (Contains 25 endnotes.) (KB)

Children understand that media grant recognition and respect to racial groups that are positively portrayed. Approximately half of the programs in the 1999-2000 broadcast prime time entertainment programming exhibited some diversity in their opening credits casts. This study examined the nature of the portrayals of diversity. The study examined 10 "mixed" programs (character set included a mix of racial and ethnic characters) and 10 "only one" programs (all characters but one in program character set belong to the same racial group). Two additional programs with predominantly African American casts were selected for comparison. The first three episodes were recorded for each program and coded. Among the major findings are the following: (1) African American characters overall were more likely to be integral to primary storylines in situation comedies than in dramas; (2) Asian Pacific American characters were seen the least frequently; (3) the few Latino characters were more often integral to secondary dramatic storylines than to primary ones; (4) characters of different races frequently interacted professionally, sometimes socially, rarely romantically; (5) many shows adopted a colorblind approach to interracial interactions, with the exception to colorblind portrayals being racial humor and stereotyping by characters of one race toward characters of another; (6) much of the racial humor and stereotyping targeted Asian Pacific Americans and Latinos; (7) characters of color tended to be shown at work/school or home, whereas white characters were shown in both environments; (8) nonwhite characters, particularly African Americans, were likely to be portrayed as successful, good, and competent, whereas white characters were more likely than nonwhite to be shown as unsuccessful, bad, or incompetent; and (9) programs featured many African American characters that could be positive role models for viewers. (KB)

Sports programming plays a significant role in the media messages that American boys receive today. To explore the messages that sports programming presents to its audience, this report relates the findings of a study that analyzed a representative selection of sports programs and their accompanying commercials; also presented are findings from a national poll of 1,200 children ages 10-17 and 2 focus groups of boys. Part 1 of the report, "Analyzing Sports Programming," discusses aggression, violence, and injuries as well as sports, race, and gender. Key findings include: (1) aggression and violence among men is depicted as exciting and rewarding behavior; (2) athletes who play with pain are often portrayed as heroes; (3) games are often promoted by creating or inflating conflict between two star athletes; (4) white males dominate the world of sports commentary; (5) while there were few overtly racist images or comments, sports programs occasionally reinforce racial stereotypes; and (6) women are largely absent from the sports programs that boys watch, and when they do appear, they are portrayed in stereotypical ways. Part 2 of the report, "Analyzing Commercials in Sports Programming," discusses products and commercial sponsorships and tie-ins. Key findings include: (1) the primary products advertised are automobiles, shows on the same network, and snacks or fast food; (2) while male athletes of color play prominent roles in sports programming, people of color in general are underrepresented in the commercials; (3) women often appear in stereotypical or background roles in commercials; and (4) traditionally masculine images of speed, danger, and aggression are often used in the sports programming commercials. (LPP)

Boys are especially active users of media, and researchers have suggested that the cumulative impact of media, such as television, movies, and music videos, may make them some of the most influential forces in boys' lives. This report presents the findings of a national poll of 1,200 young people (ages 10 to 17) and focus groups in which boys offered their own insights into the media. Sections include: (1) "Media That Boys Consume"; (2) "Sex and Violence"; (3) "Attributes of Male Characters"; (4) "Emotions, Sensitivity, and Vulnerability"; (5) "Problems and Solutions"; and (7) "Real Life Men vs. TV Portrayals." The report lists key findings from the poll, including the following: (1) children see men on television as leaders and problem solvers, funny, successful, confident, athletic, and focused on the opposite sex; (2) male characters in the media rarely cry; (3) one in five male characters employs some form of physical aggression to solve problems; (4) over one-third of children say that they never see television males performing domestic chores such as cooking and cleaning; (5) male characters of color are more likely to focus on solving problems involving family, personal, romantic, or friendship issues, while white male characters are consistently motivated by succeeding in work, preventing and managing disaster, and pleasing nonromantic others; and (6) across race and gender, the majority of children believe that the boys and men they see on television are different from themselves, boys that they know, their fathers, and other adult male relatives. (LPP)

News media hold significant power and responsibility in focusing public attention on child-related issues. This document summarizes a study of news coverage of children in national media in 1994 and reports on the follow-up conducted in 1998. The follow-up study was based on a sample of national news coverage collected throughout November 1998 from five major newspapers and three broadcast networks. Part 1 of the followup study replicated and updated the 1994 study. Part 2 added an additional month over-sample to determine whether the coverage contained a primary focus on minority children. The findings of the 1994 study led to the conclusion that although news coverage of children was substantial, it was not balanced. Among the key findings of the follow-up study were the following: (1) child-related newspaper stories increased 37 percent over 5 years while television coverage remained unchanged; (2) the proportion of child-related news stories involving crime/violence dropped considerably, the proportion involving cultural/health issues increased considerably, and family/economic issues continued to account for the smallest number of stories; (3) children's voices were twice as common on television news as in newspapers; (4) both media provided very little practical information for parents in child-related news stories; (6) about 20 percent of stories addressed public policy concerns, down slightly from 1993; (7) children of color received little coverage, with African-Americans receiving more coverage than all others combined; and (8) stories about children of color focused on education more than crime/violence. (KB)