Real warnings required: CBSC

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...