Supplement: Children and Television: A Conference Summary

Abstract

In June 1996, the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, in cooperation with the Children's Television Workshop, hosted its first annual Conference on Children and Television. The conference was organized around four discussions: (1) the elements that characterize quality children's television; (2) the problems that producers confront in creating, producing, and selling quality programming; (3) the dilemmas confronting advertisers; and (4) the dilemmas confronting buyers and distributors. Conference participants included representatives from public and commercial broadcast and cable television industries, producers of children's programming, media buyers from advertising agencies, and advocates and researchers of children's television. Overall, the participants agreed that under the right conditions it is possible to create high-quality, educational programming that children will watch. (The Federal Communications Commission's three-hour rule was seen as a positive step toward achieving that goal.) However, most also recognized the hurdles educational programs must clear to gain an audience and be seen as successful in the eyes of advertisers and broadcasters.

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References

1. The author of the present article is a senior research investigator at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

2. Peter D. Hart Research Associates , “Children/Parents: Television in the Home” (Report no. 1, Annenberg Public Policy Center, June 1996).

3. Amy B. Jordan , “The State of Children's Television: An Examination of Quantity, Quality and Industry Beliefs” (Report no. 2, Annenberg Public Policy Center, June 1996).

4. Marie-Louise Mares , “Positive Effects of Television on Social Behavior: A Meta-Analysis” (Report no. 3, Annenberg Public Policy Center, June 1996).

5. The Advisory Council on Excellence in Children's Television is made up of Dan Anderson (psychologist, University of Massachusetts), Ken Burns (documentary filmmaker), James Comer (psychiatrist, Yale University), William Damon (child psychologist, Brown University), Jonathan Kozol (author), Charles Ogletree (professor of law, Harvard University), Roger Rosenblatt (journalist; professor, Southampton University), Zena Sutherland (author; librarian emeritus, University of Chicago), and Marta Tienda (sociologist, University of Chicago).

6. The moderator of this roundtable was Milton Chen (KQED-San Francisco). Round-table participants were Dan Anderson (University of Massachusetts-Amherst), Margaret Cozzens (National Science Foundation), John Fuller (PBS), Larry Goldman (American Medical Association), Marjorie Hogan (American Academy of Pediatrics), Dale Kunkel (University of California-Santa Barbara), Keith Mielke (Children's Television Workshop), Lisa Reisberg (American Academy of Pediatrics), Don Roberts (Stanford University), James Swanson (University of California-Irvine), and Ellen Wartella (University of Texas-Austin).

7. The moderator of this roundtable was Karen Jaffe (KIDSNET). Roundtable participants were Linda Carpenter (KidStar Interactive), Erren Gottlieb (Bill Nye, the Science Guy), Geoff Haines-Stiles (Passport to Knowledge), Marjorie Kalins (Children's Television Workshop), Casey Keller (Beakman's World), Susan Koch (Koch TV Productions), Twila Liggett (Reading Rainbow), Noel Resnick (Lancit Media), Angela Santomero (Blue's Clues), Jane Startz (Magic School Bus), James Steinbach (Get Real), and Ken Wales (Christy).

8. The moderator of this roundtable was Vicky Rideout (Children Now). Roundtable participants were Karl Kuechenmeister (Turner Broadcasting Sales/The Cartoon Network), Debbie Solomon (J. Walter Thompson), Jana O'Brien (Leo Burnett), and Jayne Spittler (Leo Burnett).

9. The moderator of this roundtable was Ron Milavsky (University of Connecticut). Roundtable participants were Alice Cahn (PBS), Neil Hoffman (USA Network), Joanna Lei (C3 Media and Marketing), Peter Moss (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), and Horst Stipp (NBC-TV).