Cleaning up TV for young takes a team effort…

By

Unicef’s call for a ban on television advertising to under-12s (MarketingWeek.co.uk 14 September) along with culture secretary Jeremy Hunt’s RTS Cambridge speech calling for a cross-media approach to regulation are signs of an increasing concern over what children are exposed to.

However, this growing awareness, starting with the Bailey Report back in June, should not be seen as a negative for the media industry. Technology is advancing, children are more digitally accomplished than ever before and the media industry has got to adapt to ensure children are entertained in a safe and responsible way.

Children are easily influenced, and broadcasters need to make sure advertising as well as content is suitable and aids development. Limiting materialistic advertising and instead focusing on commercial opportunities that adhere to family centric, culturally diverse and educational values would certainly be a positive move by broadcasters.

Finally, parents and carers also need to exercise control over what children are exposed to. Only together can we ensure children will grow up with fun, educational and character building television.

Paul Robinson

CEO and founder, KidsCo

Recommended

Russell Parsons

Consumers need help to challenge data misuse

Russell Parsons

Changing the perception that there are swathes of nebulous data companies making inappropriate use of data is one of the greatest challenges the direct marketing industry faces. Whether the perception matches the reality does not matter, there is a common feeling among many consumers that their data is being traded, at worse without their authority, […]

Latest from Marketing Week