July 10, 1997
Screen Actors Guild President Richard Masur, Writers Guild of America, west President Brad Radnitz and Directors Guild of America President Jack Shea issued the following statement on Thursday, July 10, 1997:
Following our initial review of proposed additions to the TV ratings system, the Writers, Actors and Directors Guilds cannot at this time support it. The Guilds believe it has significant flaws and may be dangerous to American freedoms, values and culture.
We have serious concerns about the detrimental impact the new system may have upon television programs enjoyed by millions of Americans every day, and the limiting of choice for our audience. We remain troubled by the threat that the new system poses to the creative rights and responsibilities of our members.
For these reasons, we stand by the concerns raised in our earlier statement of July 2 (text follows this statement) and plan to carefully study and monitor the ramifications of the new system.
We continue to reserve all legal, political and other options open to us to protect the First Amendment rights of our members and of all Americans.
JULY 2, 1997 STATEMENT BY SCREEN ACTORS GUILD, DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA AND WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA ON PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE TV RATING SYSTEM
DGA President Jack Shea, WGAwest President Brad Radnitz, and SAG President Richard Masur today issued the following statement:
Members of the Writers Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America create thousands of hours of entertainment programming every year for the viewing enjoyment of American television audiences.
The Guilds have been sympathetic to the reasonable concerns of parents and others that audience advisories be made available to help identify certain kinds of TV programming in order to make informed viewing choices.
Despite our concerns about the dangers of unconstitutional government intrusion inherent in any labeling system that might have a chilling effect upon our industry, we supported the current system announced last December.
Under attack since its inception, we believe that the current TV-ratings system has never been given a fair chance to work. The system has been in place only five months and this is clearly an insufficient time for any honest evaluation of its merits.
The time has now come for us to speak out with the united voice of the creative community to oppose in the strongest possible terms the modifications of that system that are currently under discussion in Washington, D.C.
The Guilds will NOT support any new "agreement" with regard to ratings of, or advisories regarding, television programs unless and until they have had sufficient time to study them and comment upon them.
All interested parties should thus be aware that the Guilds reserve all legal, political and other options open to them, including opposing by a federal lawsuit any action by government bodies or individuals, singly or in concert with others, which infringes upon the First Amendment rights of their members or which might have a "chilling effect" on the exercise of those rights.
We are not parties to nor are we represented in any "negotiations" currently ongoing in Washington, D.C. or elsewhere regarding revisions of that system. Thus neither our agreement to nor acquiescence in any such agreements may be assumed. Furthermore, we are deeply concerned about reports that some, without our consent or advice, are considering labels that may require misleading and disparaging descriptions of the creative work of our members.
This statement is issued in a climate that we perceive as increasingly coercive and without regard to the fundamental constitutional rights of the American people. When finally understood by our fellow Americans, we believe that the vast majority will agree with us that what is being attempted here by certain advocacy groups and politicians is a thinly disguised attempt to drive certain programming of which they personally disapprove off the air.
This should be recognized and vigorously resisted for what it is: an attempt to impose a narrowing of American culture upon all of our citizens.