by James T. Hamilton

About the author: James T. Hamilton is a professor of public policy, economics, and political science at Duke University and the author of Channeling Violence: The Economic Market for Violent Television Programming.

Editor’s note: The following viewpoint is excerpted from Hamilton’s May 1999 testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, at a hearing on TV violence.

Television violence is at its core a problem of pollution. Programmers and advertisers use violent content to target television’s most valuable demographic, viewers age 18–34. The executives who schedule violence to garner ratings and profits do not take into account the full impact on society of their actions. Research shows that television violence does increase levels of aggression, fear, and desensitization among some who...