TV Rating System - Andi

258 Pages·2007·1.06 MB·English

TV Rating System
Building Citizenship on the Small Screen
ANDI Ministério da Justiça – Secretaria Nacional de Justiça – Departamento de Justiça, Classificação, Títulos e Qualificação
TV Rating System
Building citizenship on the small screen
Prepared by
in partnership with
(cid:2)(cid:3)
STAFF
ANDI MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
News Agency for Children’s Rights
President of the Republic
Chairman of the Board of Directors Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Oscar Vilhena Vieira
Minister of State of Justice
Executive Secretary Márcio Thomaz Bastos
Veet Vivarta
National Secretary of Justice
Deputy Executive Secretary Cláudia Maria de Freitas Chagas
Ely Harasawa
Director of the Department of Justice, Ratings,
Research and Statistics Coordinator Titles, and Qualification
Guilherme Canela José Eduardo Elias Romão
Editorial Coordinator Deputy Director
Adriano Guerra Tarcízio Ildefonso Costa Júnior
SDS - Ed. Boulevard Center, Bloco A sala 101 Coordinator
70.391-900 – Brasilia-DF Maria Celva Bispo Reis
Telephone: [phone] | Fax: [phone]
Technical Consultants
E-mail: [email protected]
Anderson de Oliveira Alarcon
Site: www.andi.org.br
Juliana Cézar Nunes
Tatiana Barbosa Sócrates
Card catalogue (cataloguing in publication)
Esplanada dos Ministérios, Bloco T,
C614 TV Rating System: building citizenship on the small Anexo II, sala 319
screen / [editorial supervisor Veet Vivarta. text coordinator 70.064-901 – Brasilia-DF
Guilherme Canela]--- Brasilia: ANDI; National Secretariat of
Telephone: [phone]
Justice, 2006.
256 p. E-mail: [email protected]
Site: www.mj.gov.br/classificacao
Text available in three languages: Portuguese, English, and
Spanish.
Published in partnership with: Avina Foundation / Save the
Children Sweden.
ISBN978-85-99118-13-9
1. Media. 2. Regulations. 3.Human Rights. 4. TV Ratings.
I. Canela, Guilherme (Coordinator) II. News Agency for
Children’s Rights.
CDU: 316.774
»
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Contents
Preface
Introduction: A brief overview of the Brazilian setting
Part One
1 TV Rating System in Brazil - 21
2Regulationversus the free market - 46
3 TV Rating System and the freedom of expression - 67
4The relationship between child, the adolescents, and the media - 84
5Building on international experiences - 114
6Challenges in defining a new model - 158
Part Two
TV Rating System: the protection of Human Rights and an educational dialogue with society - 170
Draft TV Rating System Form - 194
Manual and Source Codes - 215
Lists of countries and languages - 228
Appendix 1: List of institutions - 231
Appendix 2: Brazilian Broadcasting Code of Ethics - 239
Bibliography
Technical staff
The New TV Rating System
as a republican institution
T
he purpose of this publication is to examine
the Brazilian TV Ratings advisory process
from a range of theoretical perspectives,
and to present the new TV Rating System, the out-
come of a wide range of discussions held over the
past four years by the Ministry of Justice, through its
National Secretariat of Justice, with State agencies,
media firms, and nongovernmental organizations.
The book intends to demonstrate that the new
TV Rating System serves as an instrument to con-
solidate the Democratic State Based on the Rule of
Law. First, by definitively breaking away from the
remaining vestiges of pernicious censorship still
embedded in the Brazilian State apparatus. Second-
ly, through the system’s inclusion in the set of legal
mechanisms for the promotion of human rights
– among them, the right to freedom of expression.
It can therefore be stated categorically that the new
TV Rating System does not institute self-regulation –
much less censorship – by subterfuge. Nor, indeed,
could it do so, since self-regulation and censorship
correspond to “normative models” – the Liberal
State and the Social State, respectively – both already
definitively transcended. The Brazilian Federal Con- tration, stands as a genuine system for safeguarding
stitution of 1988, which institutes the Democratic and protecting the fundamental rights of Brazilians,
State Based on the Rule of Law (the regime now in ef- that is, as a truly republican institution.
fect), specifically rejects self-regulation, mandating Finally, it is important to emphasize that the TV
in its article 21 that the Union “classify, for purposes Rating System serves strictly as a guideline, since
of indication,” while simultaneously prohibiting, it lacks the power to forbid the access of children
above all under article 220, “any and all censorship and adolescents to any type of public entertain-
of a political, ideological, and artistic nature.” ment. That authority rests with parents. It is up to
This volume sets out the conceptual and norma- the State to ensure effective means for implement-
tive fundaments of the new TV Rating System, which ing such control over the access to content, and to
can be clearly understood as a legal constitutional provide objective information enabling parents to
norm resulting from a balance between the right to exercise their freedom of choice.
freedom of expression and the duty to ensure the This book, published through a rewarding
full protection of children and adolescents. partnership among the Brazilian News Agency
The initiative, undertaken in 2002 by then Minis- for Children’s Rights (Agência de Notícias dos
ter of Justice José Gregori to link the TV Rating System Direitos da Infância – ANDI), Save the Children
to the exercise of human rights, had the virtue of el- Sweden, the Avina Foundation, and the Brazilian
evating the subject to an issue of overarching public in- Ministry of Justice, does more than simply record
terest. With courage and boldness, Minister José Gre- the challenges and achievements of individuals
gori undertook the task of developing a democratic TV and institutions committed to following our Fed-
Rating System that today, after all the work carried out eral Constitution. This work narrates part of the
during President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s adminis- story of Brazil’s redemocratization.(cid:135)
Márcio Thomaz Bastos
Minister of State for Justice
Federative Republic of Brazil
Building citizenship
on the TV screen
I
n the first half of 2006, the Brazilian News pact of media content, the need for dialogue between
Agency for Children’s Rights (Agência business and society, the importance of State regula-
de Notícias dos Direitos da Infância tion, the role of the different accountability systems
– ANDI), through an agreement signed with for mass communications outlets, all have been the
the Department of Justice, Ratings, Titles, and subject of intense and extensive reflection over the
Qualification of the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, past decade in the international public sphere.
prepared an extensive analysis on the various In view of this, the primary objective of the
questions related to the TV ratings advisory proc- present publication poses a significant chal-
ess for audiovisual content. lenge: to identify points of convergence among
Published in printed form in three languages the specific areas of expertise on the subject, the
(Portuguese, English, and Spanish) – to reflect disparate public and private concerns, and the
the incorporation of Save the Children Sweden conflicting interests of the various actors.
and the Avina Foundation to the initiative – the Numerous approaches could be chosen to
study is intended to contribute to the public de- deepen a debate of this nature. That said, our
bate in Brazil and other countries on this most efforts concentrate on one major, and highly
important issue. complex, axis of interest: a TV Rating System for
In the pages that follow, key aspects of the pub- audiovisual content designed to safeguard the
lic policies governing the TV Rating System are rights of children and adolescents.
examined. Additionally, the analysis looks at how Assigning ratings to programming offered
the issue has been addressed in several countries. through different media consists in identifying the
Lastly, we propose a redesigned Brazilian TV Rat- specific content that is deemed suitable and un-
ings System based on the results and conclusions suitable for children and adolescents, depending
drawn from the study. on their age and on their level of biopsychosocial
The rights of children and adolescents, the im- formation. However, it is important to note that op-
tions for establishing ratings are numerous – and The TV Rating System is a specific regulatory
often conflicting. model whose efficiency will be increasingly en-
We would therefore like to invite the relevant hanced as other parameters of the media regula-
actors in this discussion – children, adolescents, tory framework are developed.
families, educators, experts, the State, civil soci- The TV Rating System should not be interpret-
ety, and business – to converge around a single ed as a form of censorship or as an inhibitor of
line of analysis with a view to offering a consistent more progressive views concerning the concept
and substantive (although not definitive or abso- of freedom of expression.
lute) contribution to a debate that is of great im- We are aware that a full consensus is difficult to
portance to contemporary societies. achieve on an issue in which different actors hold
It is worth mentioning that we live in an historic clearly demarcated and, as so often the case in
time when audiovisual content – particularly content democratic societies, divergent positions. How-
offered over television, as well as other media – is not ever, considerable progress will be ensured if the
only central to shaping who we are and will be, but conversation among the different actors is framed
also to our understanding of ourselves, of others, and within the context of parameters prescribed spe-
of the world around us. Therefore, our interest in the cifically in the Brazilian Constitution and, as well,
development of that content is anything but trite. in the international agreements governing the is-
With this in mind, the following chapters set sue. In other words, the idea is to promote a true
forth a proposal for the formulation of a public pol- dialogue in place of what has too often sounded like
icy founded on five central points: a disjointed cacophony of monologues.
The TV Rating System can and should be viewed The recent efforts of the Ministry of Justice
as an instrument to protect and promote human laid the foundations for this debate, to an ex-
rights, as well as an important tool for fostering tent unprecedented in contemporary Brazilian
dialogue with and empowering society. history. However, progress has been stymied by
Children and adolescents, to whom the State is numerous and significant difficulties, many the
entrusted to give absolute priority attention, must result of continuing resistance from some of
receive special consideration in this process. the stakeholders.
As a medium that broadcasts/produces audiovi- Thus, it is our goal that the arguments put forth
sual content, television can and should be sub- in this publication serve to resolve some of these
ject to democratic regulation by Nation-States. difficulties, foster a more in-depth qualified de-
bate, and enable discussion of new issues, at least, 2nd Brazilian Congress of Psychology: Science and
in the Brazilian context. Profession (São Paulo, September 2006); and the
From April to December of 2006, a draft ver- 2nd Rio Media Meeting (Rio de Janeiro, October
sion of this text has been available for download 2006), all had the opportunity to comment on the
on the Brazilian Ministry of Justice’s website. In points analyzed below.
addition, the central argument of the consider- The substance of the content developed in this
ations outlined in this publication has been de- study and the significant response it has elicited
bated on different occasions and with a wide range to date are two of the factors behind the decision
of Brazilian audiences. Participants at the Na- to publish the text in Spanish and English, as well
tional Seminar on Ratings Advisories (Brasilia, as in Portuguese. It is our hope that the consider-
July 2006); the 8th Latin American Congress of ations of the TV Rating System examined in this
Communication Researchers (Porto Alegre, July publication reach the widest audience possible
2006); the 29th Brazilian Congress of Communi- and serve, ideally, to inspire policy advances in
cation Sciences (Brasilia, September 2006); the this field in other countries. Enjoy.(cid:135)
Veet Vivarta
Executive Secretary
ANDI – Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights
Per Tamm
Official Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean
Save the Children Sweden
Francisco Azevedo
Representative for the Southeast and Federal District
Avina Foundation
Introduction 9
A brief overview
»
of the Brazilian setting
F
An in-depth understanding of Brazil’s ormulating any public policy requires an
socioeconomic reality, as well as the understanding of the cultural, economic,
context in which media regulation historical, political, and social context in
operates, is a crucial component of the which that policy is introduced. Analyzing these
discussion on the TV Rating System. With factors is of critical importance not only to assess
this in mind, before analyzing those the degree to which different actors may accept or
aspects directly linked to the central theme oppose a policy, but also to identify the strengths
of this document, we would like to offer and weaknesses of a given strategy and to deter-
a brief outline of the domestic setting in mine the need for enhancing a particular format.
which that debate has taken place. This clearly applies to the TV Rating policy on
audiovisual content: specifically, the implemen-
tation and consolidation of such a policy will be
increasingly efficient, effectual, and effective
the better we grasp the national context in which
the related efforts are carried forward.
In the case considered on these pages, two sets
of complementary information are of greatest in-
terest: one that describes the reality of children
and adolescents and another that highlights the
characteristics of the development model (and, by
extension, the capitalist model) pursued in Brazil
over the past 500 years. The relevance of the first
set of data is clear: children and adolescents are
(or should be) the primary beneficiaries of any TV