New research from the Parents Television Council (PTC) has found that television violence, and gun violence in particular – that is rated appropriate for children – has increased on primetime broadcast television shows in the five years since the shooting in Newtown, CT.
PTC compared TV-PG and TV-14 programs from one month after the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, to those of a month following the Dec. 14, 2012 mass shooting in Newtown:
“During the November 2017 “sweeps” period of primetime broadcast TV shows, almost 61% (175 of the 287 episodes examined) contained violence; and 39% (112 episodes) contained violence and guns. Of note, the study period was approximately one month following the Las Vegas mass shooting on October 1, 2017. The study period in 2013 was about one month following the Newtown mass shooting.
“Comparatively, research conducted by the PTC in 2013 during the month following Newtown found that on primetime broadcast TV shows, nearly half contained violence [49.2%]; and almost a third [30.8%] contained violence and guns.”
