Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-11-Speech-4-010"

PredicateValue (sorted: default)
rdf:type
dcterms:Date
dcterms:Is Part Of
dcterms:Language
lpv:document identification number
"en.20020411.1.4-010"2
lpv:hasSubsequent
lpv:speaker
lpv:spokenAs
lpv:translated text
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, our experience following the quantum leap in the mass media, especially television, is increasing daily. I am sure you have all witnessed in your countries, as I have witnessed in mine, the boom in cheap ‘big brother’ type television programmes in which people agree to be imprisoned, for want of a better word, while viewers are invited to peep through the keyhole, waiting for something titillating to happen, usually – to be frank – a sex scene, or for something unexpected or interesting to happen. But, at the same time, this sort of programme encourages viewers – especially young viewers – to look on the people playing this sort of lottery, betting body and soul in the hope of winning money at the expense of the others, as role models. These programmes are objectionable and absurd but we cannot attack them through legislation or administrative intervention. As other speakers have said, technical rules do no good, nor does informing and educating children, because forbidden fruit does, of course, taste sweeter. None of this is enough especially, Commissioner, as everyone will be able to access this sort of programme on the Internet sooner or later. I think we need some sort of European legislation and regulations with more teeth than we have at present. I do not have a great deal of faith in self-regulation because competition lives by its own – very powerful – rules. However, it would be no bad thing if we could come up with some sort of more binding code of conduct than we have at present. If we were to give parents and consumers the right to lay siege to the producers of these cheap programmes, it would, perhaps, provide some small counterweight to competition. And, of course, we could look at the more technical question of watersheds to draw a dividing line between when children watch television and their bedtime and when these programmes go out. However, even with all this, unless we come up with something more original and imaginative, I shall persist in my pessimism as to the future and the success of this sort of programme."@en1

Named graphs describing this resource:

1http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/English.ttl.gz
2http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/Events_and_structure.ttl.gz
3http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/spokenAs.ttl.gz

The resource appears as object in 2 triples

Context graph