Clinton Vows to Continue Monitoring Media as President

Democratic Candidate Responds to Series of Questions from Common Sense Media

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/18/2007 1:05:00 PM

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) said she and her husband monitored their daughter Chelsea's TV watching as a child and even as a teen-ager, and she plans to continue monitoring the media if she becomes president.

Answering a series of questions from Common Sense Media about the media and children, Clinton said she remains concerned about the influence of media on kids, adding that research shows "that violent and sexually explicit media contribute to aggressive behavior, early sexual experimentation, obesity and depression."

She also said she would like to see all of the food-industry players commit to voluntary marketing guidelines and broadcasters air more media-literacy primetime public-service announcements.

"I think the TV industry should air more public-service announcements," she said, "particularly about the effect of TV on children and the need for parents to help their children utilize the media in the best possible way. Most PSAs run after midnight, not during primetime. I think we should make better use of the prime hours of broadcasting to educate parents about how to be more literate, effective media consumers on behalf of themselves and their children."

On the issue of childhood obesity, Clinton said the country is going in the right direction but it needs to go further.

She praised 10 food companies that agreed, as part of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, to devote at least 50% of ad time to healthier foods or messages about fitness and nutrition. But she also said, "There is more work to be done. I would like to see the entire food industry come together to develop voluntary guidelines that take their responsibility to children seriously."

Common Sense is asking similar questions of all of the candidates.

Click here for all of Clinton’s responses, including the kind of Federal Communications Commission members she would pick.