FTC Still Criticizes Marketing of Violence

A long-awaited federal report on the marketing of violent entertainment to children is expected to criticize movie and video game retailers for selling mature-rated material to children and chastise the music industry for failing to heed federal officials’ recommendations.

Unlike a scathing report released in September 2000 under the Clinton administration, the sequel by the Federal Trade Commission--scheduled to be unveiled Wednesday--will paint a more flattering picture of Hollywood, according to several sources familiar with the findings.

While citing progress by the movie, music and video game industries, federal regulators are expected to say that an examination using “undercover shoppers” to check retail practices found a lack of compliance with entertainment ratings guidelines. For example, the report is likely to cite cases of theaters that fail to check identification for R and PG-13 rated movies, according to the sources familiar with the report.

Federal regulators are expected to cite concerns about marketing guidelines doing too little to protect children from mature-rated material. For instance, the report probably will criticize the music industry’s standards for advertising explicit material since the guidelines allow such ads to appear on shows that have large youth audiences on networks such as MTV and BET.

FTC officials Monday declined to comment about the report, as did a handful of congressional staffers who had been briefed in advance of the release. The report is a follow-up of the entertainment industry’s behavior requested by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the ranking minority member of the Senate Commerce Committee.

McCain and other senators had pledged to monitor the industry’s practices in the wake of revelations last year about specific schemes to advertise mature material to minors--including pitches to Camp Fire Boys & Girls outfits.

But the issue has all but vanished from political radar screens. A bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), which would impose fines of up to $11,000 a day on companies that violated their own marketing guidelines, has languished.

The Bush administration has shown little inclination to engage in culture wars. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, domestic policy debates have been overshadowed by Washington’s focus on the nation’s response to terrorism and the spread of anthrax. If anything, Bush officials have been extending olive branches to Hollywood. The federal government became involved in recent years after a string of school shootings led to calls for an inquiry into Hollywood’s efforts to sell violent entertainment to children. The basis for the FTC’s involvement--which was announced in a 1999 Rose Garden ceremony by then-President Clinton--was that music, video game and movie companies were practicing deceptive advertising by trying to entice children to want products labeled for older people.

Since then, the video game industry has been commended by some politicians for making substantial progress in keeping adult-rated material out of children’s hands. But some game publishers expect the report to criticize retailers for failing to implement effective cash-register screening systems to prevent minors from purchasing mature-rated games, as some stores had pledged.

“We believe since the original report was issued that we’ve taken extraordinary and unique steps to address concerns,” said Doug Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Assn., a video game trade group. “We hope that the continued progress and commitments we’ve made will be recognized and acknowledged by the FTC.”

Movie executives expect to be credited for reducing the number of ads for R-rated films in media outlets that cater to children. But others expect criticism for not having more uniform standards.

A Motion Picture Assn. of America spokesman said they had been working alongside major Hollywood studios since shortly after the release of the first report to construct a number of initiatives addressing the issues raised. He said the group has been working diligently to ensure compliance.

The music industry, singled out for criticism in a mid-term report in April, is said to have shown some progress but has not ceased marketing explicit material to children, according to industry sources.

Indeed, the recording industry almost certainly will receive the harshest assessment. Guidelines from the Recording Industry Assn. of America avoid the industrywide content standard once sought by federal officials and instead call for individual record labels to decide which material should carry a “parental advisory” warning sticker.

FTC officials in April blasted music industry leaders for withdrawing voluntary industrywide standards. At the time of the release of the FTC’s report last fall, the RIAA evaded the brunt of lawmakers’ fury with a pre-emptive offer to cease advertising for explicit-content recordings in media outlets whose primary audience is minors. But record labels rescinded the policy after some lawmakers said they would pursue ways to levy penalties on companies that failed to adhere to voluntary guidelines.

Since April, the music industry has taken pains to burnish its image. RIAA Chief Executive Hilary Rosen met with the FTC’s five commissioners and provided them with the findings of the industry’s “undercover shopper” spot checks of albums in five states and Washington. The industry’s review found that the companies had improved labeling of explicit albums since the FTC’s initial report.

RIAA officials also conducted a mass-mailing of brochures explaining the parental-advisory stickers. Labels are now planning to attach a new sticker to identify edited or “clean” versions of explicit albums.

“What we set out to do is make sure that parents were aware of the parental advisory program because surveys showed parents who are aware of it approve of it,” Rosen said Monday. “Our best judgment has been to trust the people.”

The FTC report is expected to conclude that the record companies have made headway in such areas as placing the advisory tag in print and television advertisements for explicit recordings.

Music executives said that, even if the political climate makes it unlikely the government will more closely police entertainment companies in the short term, the issue could rise again eventually.

“We have to do what we have to do regardless of the atmosphere,” said one executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I don’t think we’re off the hook just because there’s a war going on.”