OTTAWA – Calling particular pieces of footage "explosive" or "horrifying" is not enough warning for viewers, says the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
A segment of Entertainment Tonight broadcast on Global Television on April 21, 2006, previewed an upcoming episode of the ABC show Primetime on the subject of dysfunctional step-families.
The segment included footage of parents and step-parents verbally and physically abusing their children, including shots of a step-father punching his teenaged daughter. The CBSC’s National Conventional Television Panel concluded that the 7:30 p.m. broadcast violated the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ (CAB) Voluntary Code regarding Violence in Television Programming provision relating to news.
"Although the Entertainment Tonight host noted that the footage was ‘jaw-dropping’, ‘explosive’ and ‘horrifying’, there was no real warning about the nature of the images until part-way through the actual segment.
The Panel had no problem with the segment airing, but that there were no warnings prior.
