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www.commonsensemedia.org
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Don’t blame Janet Jackson. Blame us. TV was going to hell in a hand-basket long before Janet acted like a total boob in front of 100 million boob-tube viewers last month.

Sex and violence and downright nasty behavior have become standard fare on television morning, noon and night. We are up to our eyeballs in muck for one simple reason – Americans are watching.

Moan all you want, but facts are facts. The media is a money game. If no one was buying into violent video games or disgusting movies or libidinous web sites, they would simply disappear. The sleaze-merchants are, first and foremost, merchants. They simply pander to the public, and proliferation of this garbage in every media proves that people are buying en masse.

Of course, no one I know would be caught dead consuming this sludge. " up P < out. is year the before profit personal in million $300 cool a Gibson Mel producer net may says Forbes that film gore-fest, into recast been has nonviolence, of icon an Jesus, days last Passion Even clams. like closing instead town, over all popping stores book see would we truth, telling were books for movies and TV given have who know I people just If so. ain’t it but me, tell anymore,? watch never We>

We have moved in my lifetime from a "new openness" to an open sewer of bad taste. We’ve been here before, of course. Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, wrote brilliantly about the most scatological topics in the 1700s. But that was satire; he was making important political points. Shakespeare is filled with ribald imagery. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, which I studied in the original Middle English in college, features a scene where a man attempting to elope with his love is blown off his ladder when she breaks wind in his direction. Today, that could be the topic of a popular TV commercial.

I’m not worried about myself. I don’t think the world is going to come crashing down. I can separate the shinola from the other stuff, but I’m worried about the kids. Kids imitate what they see adults do. What adults do nowadays is watch Fox News and reality TV, wallow for hours in online chat groups and go to largely violent and vapid films. Remember, anyone over 18 can vote in this nation and there are people over 21 still riding skateboards down the sidewalk. Kids spend tons of money, the stats tell us, and huge commercial enterprises – from soft drinks to cell phones to films and music – have evolved around their perceived wants, spoiled attitudes and adolescent drives.

So far Americans have responded with a combination of voyeuristic compliance and holy indignation. The strongest reaction has come largely from the conservative "religious right" that advocates more censorship, tighter governmental controls, an end to sex education in schools and restriction of female reproductive rights. Advocates of gun control are unable to affect legislation. Schools are still war zones. Drug use continues to rise. TV still targets commercials to kids as young as two years old. Movies are as violent as ever. To prevent another Janet Jackson incident, television networks can only think to impose a five-second taped delay on live shows and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to impose up to a $500,000 fine for indecent exposure. I wonder if that applies to documentaries about Greek statues. No one seems to understand how to effect change, even though everybody knows change is necessary.

But don’t give up hope just yet. Check out the web site for Common Sense Media (CSM). It is a breath of fresh air in a world of smelly media excesses.

This nonprofit, nonpartisan group understands that any successful movement has to come from the public. CSM does not believe in censorship, but rather in educating both adults and kids to how the media works. By providing clear, understandable data about books, music, TV, movies, video games and web sites –the group allows parents and kids to make choices about what they want – and don’t want – to consume.

Founder James P. Steyer is a sharp guy. I happened to catch his talk to the Cleveland City Club (www.cityclub.org) recently on public radio. He has kids. He used to create children’s programming for public TV. He doesn’t rant or offer predictions of doom. He knows how the media works from the inside. His book, "The Other Parent", explains how children are being raised more by the media than by family members. That wasn’t such a scary thing when kids were watching "Leave It to Beaver" and "The Brady Bunch". It’s another thing when they are infected by "Jackass" and "Real TV" and whatever the cable channels dish out late at night.

The web site offers empowerment through information and action. CSM has tossed out the useless film-rating system and created a more sophisticated way for parents to understand the media their kids may want to consume. Besides sex, violence and bad language, the CSM rating considers whether media is harmful, uninspired, educational, deceptive, elevating or misleading. Kids and parents participate in the ratings. It reviews the stuff kids want to see and isn’t afraid to separate out the sludge. This week’s review of "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights" doesn’t moralize, but says simply, "This is a really bad movie with poor acting and a lame plot."

The web site is easy to follow and offers positive steps parents and kids can take to get more value for their media dollar. The media is seen, not as the enemy, but as the purveyor of goods. The customer, not the corporations, are in charge. Readers are invited to join the group (for free) and to take action in ways that can effectively change the products that the media produces.

THE UP SHOT