Date: 12th September 2000

Hollywood On Firing Line


President Clinton on Monday vigorously backed a new Federal Trade Commission study that condemned the entertainment industry for, among other things, marketing adult material to children. "The American people will give the entertainment industry a period now to fix this, but something has to be done," President Clinton said while helping his wife's campaign in New Rochelle, NY. (Appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show, Vice President Gore said that the period ought to be not more than six months.) Clinton commented that some of the entertainment industry's marketing tactics "if not illegal, are clearly wrong." Uncharacteristically, the movie and TV industries were largely silent on the FTC report, with studio publicists saying that the industry will respond during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday. However, no studio head has agreed to testify before the committee, which is chaired by Arizona Republican John McCain. David Crane, a committee aide, told the Los Angeles Times: "Chairman McCain is very disappointed at the lack of willingness of studio executives to come before the committee. Their silence speaks volumes about their level of corporate responsibility."

Source: Studio Briefing