FILMFOUR SURVEY MAKES SENSE OF CENSORSHIP

FILMFOUR’S ‘Making Sense of Censorship’ survey has revealed a "highly media literate society who want less intervention and more information".
The results from the survey, which sought to determine attitudes toward censorship of films screened on television, showed that while viewers have concerns over extremes of violence in feature films they are able to make a distinction between ‘real’ and ‘cartoon or ‘escapist’ violence.
The survey of 900 viewers revealed that the public do not share the belief that they need to be ‘protected’ from the content of what is screened on television.
As a follow up FilmFour convened a major debate at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) on November 10 called ‘Making Sense of Censorship’ which aimed to identify a need for clarification of issues of censorship, classification and regulation of film, video, television and the Internet.
The event discussed issues of current legislation and practice in relation to a fast changing society and was convened in advance of the forthcoming White Paper on broadcasting. The participants considered such issues as the protection of the innocent, the social responsibilities of the broadcaster, the technology and the future and ‘censorship in a multicultural society. They were then asked to consider ten issues relating to the regulation of film and television.
Nick Jones, Head of Film Programming, Channel 4 and FilmFour, said: “As a film channel at the cutting edge of broadcasting, FilmFour considers it crucial to understand both what our subscribers want and what current legislation allows us to show. This event represented an unprecedented coalition of viewpoints and was the first in the series of debates designed to helps us and other broadcasters to effectively meet the demands and needs of the modern age.”
Philip Dodd, Director of the ICA said: “It was a unique event. I have never seen such a range of people in a room together, listening and talking to each other. Censorship is a crucial issue and this event had the future in its bones. It has set the new agenda.”