Health in Early Childhood

1
Health in Early Childhood

• Dr Ann Firth

2
Outline of the Lecture

• Approaches to Government Intervention
• TV Industry in Australia
• Regulation of Childrens TV
• Advertising and Childrens TV
• International Comparisons
• Solutions
• Problems

3
Key Questions

• Should governments interfere in the lives of
  individuals or private companies?
• In the case of food advertising to children has
  government regulation failed to protect the
  public interest?
• What values do you think are important in
  relation to food advertising and childrens
  television?
• Do advertising bans work?

4
Government intervention

• The question of whether governments should ban
  food advertising to children raises the issue of
  government intervention.
• Should governments interfere in the lives of
  individuals or private companies?
• Do individuals or private companies have rights
  which limit what governments should do?

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Two approaches to government intervention

• Social protection
• Individual rights

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Individual Rights

• Individuals have natural rights which exist prior
  to society
• Each individual (or private company) should be
  left alone to pursue what she/it believes is best
  for herself and her family/the company
• Individual freedom is given priority over social
  justice and social protection
• The biggest threat to individual freedom comes
  from governments

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Individual Rights

• Property rights
• Freedom from arbitrary arrest
• Freedom of association
• Freedom of speech

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Social Protection

• Advocates of social protection argue that there
  is a need to balance individual rights with
  responsibility to others, especially the
  vulnerable and disadvantaged
• Governments have a legitimate role to play in
  limiting the freedom of some individuals in the
  interests of everyone

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Government regulation

• Governments intervene in a variety of ways in
  individuals lives
• Taxation
• Regulation
• Benefits

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Media regulation

• Much of the history of media regulation in
  Australia would make an excellent case study of
  the pursuit of private interests by powerful
  individuals and the failure of governments to
  protect the public interest
• Albon and Papandrea, 1998, p.iv.
• Do you think this is the case with food
  advertising to children?

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Media Regulation

• the question of media regulations invariably
  brings about debates concerning freedom of
  expression and censorship. In the final
  analysis, it touches upon the values societies
  decide to act upon and the tools they wish to
  use Andre Caron Director of the Centre for Youth
  and Media Studies, University of Montreal,
  Quebec, Canada.
• What values do you think are important in
  relation to food advertising and childrens
  television?

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Television industry in Australia

• Television was introduced in Australia in 1956
• Australia has a dual system of national public
  broadcasting (ABC and SBS) and commercial or
  privately owned stations
• In order to operate a private TV station in
  Australia it is necessary to obtain a license
  from the Federal Government

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Purpose of Public Broadcasting

• Promote national unity and identity
• Promote cultural development
• Education
• Entertainment

14
Purpose of Private TV Stations

• To make money for shareholders

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TV Funding

• The ABC and SBS are funded by a grant from the
  government
• Privately owned or commercial channels raise
  money from selling advertising
• Audience ratings indicate how big an audience the
  station can deliver to the advertiser

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Regulation of the TV Industry

• The Australian Broadcasting Authority is an
  independent statutory authority responsible for
  the regulation of the broadcasting industry
• The Broadcasting Services Act 1992 moved away
  from direct government intervention to self
  regulation by the industry industry codes of
  practice

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ABA and Childrens TV

• The Broadcasting Services Act 1992 states that it
  is the responsibility of the ABA
• to ensure that providers of broadcasting services
  place a high priority on the protection of
  children from exposure to program material that
  may be harmful to them

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Regulation of Childrens Television

• The ABA regulates childrens TV in three main
  ways
• Childrens Television Standards
• Administering the Commercial Television Industry
  Code of Practice
• Attitudinal and audience research

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Childrens Television Standards

• The ABA
• ensures that children have access to a variety of
  quality childrens programmes made specifically
  for them
• classifies childrens programmes into C
  (childrens) and P (preschool)
• ensures commercial TV stations broadcast a
  minimum number of C and P programme hours
• sets the level of Australian content for
  childrens TV

20
Commercial Television Code of Practice

• The code was developed by the Federation of
  Australian Television Stations and is
  administered by the ABA
• The code sets the standards which television
  stations are prepared to abide by in regard to
  children and programme content, classification of
  programmes, childrens viewing times and consumer
  advice.

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Opposition to Regulation

• The level of regulation in Australia compared to
  other countries is high
• Commercial television stations and some
  independent producers object to interference and
  the imposition of restrictive regulation

22
Advertising and Childrens TV

• In C time a maximum of 5 minutes advertising is
  allowed in each 30 minute period
• No advertising is allowed in P time (Commercial
  TV stations only have to broadcast 30minutes of P
  time on each weekday)

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Advertising and Childrens TV

• Advertising must not
• Mislead or deceive children
• Put pressure on children to ask parent to buy
  products
• Show characters endorsing products
• Repeat the same ad in any 30 minute period

• Advertisements must
• Be clearly distinguishable from programmes
• Be clear and accurate

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Advertising and Childrens TV

• The restrictions on advertisements apply only to
  C and P times
• G programmes not offered in C or P times do not
  have to meet the same standards

25
International Comparisons

• Advertising during childrens viewing is banned
  in Quebec (Canada) and Sweden
• In Quebec the ban did not affect the quantity or
  quality of programmes offered
• Additional revenue would fund only two additional
  drama adventure series
• Quebec children did not shift to watching
  American cartoons

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Uniqueness of Quebec

• Caution needs to be exercised when using Quebec
  as an example because of the language factor.
  Most childrens programmes in Quebec are made by
  public French language stations

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The case of Sweden

• Until 1992 Sweden did not have commercial
  television
• TV advertising is banned to children under 12
• Problems
• Quality and quantity of childrens programming in
  Sweden is poor
• Half of Swedish childrens viewing time goes to
  programmes broadcast from other countries

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Suggested solutions

• Ban all advertising to children between the end
  of school hours and family mealtimes
• Ban advertising where children make up more than
  15 of the audience
• Fine stations which breach the code

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Do advertising bans work?

• Considering the experience of other countries can
  bans work?
• Would Australia have the same problems as Sweden?
  Germany?
• Would it be as successful as Quebec?

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Suggested Solutions

• Balance food ads with community service ads which
  are at a childs level but give good nutritional
  advice
• Fund community service advertisements from a levy
  on food advertisers whose products do not meet
  NHMRC guidelines

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Problems

• Childrens television programmes are currently
  cross subsidised by advertising revenue from
  other viewing times
• A ban on advertising would mean less money to
  make childrens programmes and the quality might
  decline
• In Germany extensive regulation of advertising on
  childrens television has seen a decline in
  revenue for childrens programmes

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Radical suggestions

• The making of childrens programmes to be funded
  by the Federal government and paid for by taxes
• All commercial stations would have to broadcast
  the same programme at the same time. Variety
  would be provided by the ABC and SBS.

33
Key References

• Australian Broadcasting Authority 1998 Infants
  and Television Sydney ABA.
• Albon, R. Papandrea, F. 1998 Media Regulation
  in Australia and the Public Interest Melbourne
  Institute of Public Affairs.
• Frith, S. Biggins, B. 1994 Children and
  Advertising A Fair Game Sydney New College
  Institute of Values Research.
• Keys. W. 1999 Childrens Television A Barometer
  of the Australian Media Policy Climate Media
  International Australia 93 9-25.