Violence and immorality on Russian television
On
November 2001, an expert group formed by The Social Committee "For the Moral Revival of the Fatherland"
analyzed the contents of TV programs of five main Russian channels: ORT,
RTR, NTV, TV-6, and Ren-TV.
The analysis aimed not to result in a strict scientific content analysis, but in a general estimation of moral situation on TV. The Social Committee's goal was to draw the public attention to the problem of the immorality on the TV as well. The two hours of TV-broadcasting from 7.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. on a randomly chosen day (October the 26, 2001) were analyzed. The experts were 2 men and 2 women, the methods and techniques of analysis of visual scenes were previously preconditioned using the technique of American Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA).
Each scene of violence and indecency was counted, news shows, commercials, films (soap operas, art, and TV-films), and other programs (quizzes, shows, etc.) being counted separately. The promos for upcoming movies and series were counted as commercials.
The
first and the main fact, which was found in the analysis, is that in commercials there are far more
scenes of violence and indecency than in all other programs put together.
Several minutes of an ad pause include dozens violent and indecent scenes.
During two hours of broadcasting the audience of five channels saw 103 violent scenes in commercials;
22 - in news shows; 24 in films; 19 in other programs. Commercials
represent 62 % of all the amount of violent scenes. During the same two hours the
audience saw 60 indecent scenes in commercials; 11 in films; 5 in
the other programs. Commercials represent 79 % of all the amount of indecent
scenes.
The
number of violent scenes is the biggest on Ren-TV и TV-6. During two hours Ren-TV displayed violence
43 times, that means, once per 2 minutes. TV-6 displays violence once per
4 minutes (18 scenes per hour). Indecency dominates on ORT and
Ren-TV. On ORT the audience can see an indecent scene each 5 minutes
(13 times per hour), on Ren-TV - each 8 minutes (8 times per hour).
The
exploration of the expert group of the Social Committee can lead to the conclusion that commercials are
means through which the indecency is propagandized on TV. The clips
are demonstrated in the prime time, when the biggest part of Russia's
audience, including children, is watching TV.