Children Now praises FCC for new educational TV rules

From Children Now:

"Children Now is pleased that the Federal Communications Commission has established digital public interest obligations that will improve the television environment for both children and parents. Children Now and the Children's Media Policy Coalition have pushed hard for these rules for several years. While we are gratified by much of today's ruling, we remain concerned about protecting children from the potential harms of interactive advertising.

"By applying the existing guidelines for educational programming to digital television, limiting the preemption of educational shows, and requiring consistent labeling of educational/informational (E/I) programs, the FCC has placed the interests of our nation's children above those of television broadcasters. It is essential that the Commission now enforce its standards for E/I programs, especially given the significant questions that were raised last week about the quality of these programs in the Washington D.C. license renewal challenges.

"Although the FCC has adopted a stance that recognizes the need to protect children from interactive advertising, we are disappointed that it did not actually ban the practice. The FCC has taken an important first step in addressing invasive marketing practices; we ask that they move quickly to finish the job. Given children's unique vulnerability to commercial persuasion and the unprecedented levels of commercialism that exist today, the Commission should permanently ban interactive advertising so children can't answer the door when toy and junk food peddlers come calling."