Jib Fowles

About the author: Jib Fowles is a professor of communication at the University of Houston- Clear Lake and the author of The Case for Television Violence.

Because everyone has access to television, its use cannot be regulated —and therefore those who would like to control television see it as out of control and threatening. TV violence is an excuse for many groups to attack television. In the realm of culture, educated elites attack the violent programs that the masses enjoy. Whites worry that TV violence will increase crime rates among minorities. Older Americans feel that TV violence is common because it is popular among younger viewers, women blame its prevalence on men, and religious conservatives claim that the TV violence is foisted on them by liberals. TV violence is attacked because...