AS level RS: Four units:

Lesson Objective today - To look at moral and ethical issues raised by the broadcast of popular soap operas before the 9pm watershed.

Mary Whitehouse was a devout Christian who campaigned against immorality and indecency on television. She was mocked at the time and is still remembered with slight contempt. Should a Christian care what other people look at on television? Who should decide what is acceptable to air? How influential are television programmes on the behaviour of people, especially children?

Mary Whitehouse had some success… She found the Clean Up TV campaign in In the early nineties this same organisation was renamed ‘mediawatch’. Mediawatch is a pressure group which seeks to highlight what it sees as regulatory failure on harmful and offensive broadcast content, such as violence, "bad language", sex, homosexuality and blasphemy in the United Kingdom. The organisation was founded as the NVALA in 1965 by Mary Whitehouse ( ). After she retired as President in 1994, John Beyer became Director, and the organisation changed its name in violencebad languagesexhomosexualityblasphemyUnited KingdomMary WhitehouseJohn Beyer Arguing that a permissive society is bad for the moral health of a nation, the NVLA sought to excise any reference to sex or violence from the media. The organization's greatest mainstream success was their removal of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) from theaters. It also waged a long battle against TV's Doctor Who. In the 1990s, the organization successfully campaigned for the creation of the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the British equivalent of the FCC.Stanley KubrickDoctor Who

The Watershed is a term used to describe a time in television schedules which divides the period when it is permissible to show television programmes which have 'adult content' from the period when it is not. Adult content can be generally defined as having nudity, explicit sexual intercourse, graphic violence, strong language, or drug references or use.adultnuditysexual intercourseviolencestrong languagedrug

She died, aged 91, in a nursing home in Colchester, Essex on 23 November Despite earlier clashes, Michael Grade said of her: "She was very witty, she was a great debater, she was very courageous and she had a very sincere view, but it was out of touch entirely with the real world."[16] The comedian Bernard Manning also commented, "She'll be sadly missed, I imagine, but not by me."[22]Colchester Essex23 November2001Michael Grade[16]Bernard Manning[22]

Writing in the Dictionary of National Biography, the philosopher Mary Warnock comments, "Even if her campaigning did not succeed in ‘cleaning up TV’, still less in making it more fit to watch in other ways, she was of serious intent, and was an influence for good at a crucial stage in the development both of the BBC and of ITV. She was not, as the BBC seemed officially to proclaim, a mere figure of fun".[23]Dictionary of National BiographyMary WarnockTVBBCITV[23]

Should we protect religions from offense? Why are some words offensive; and some not? Could saying crap be as bad as saying sh**; what makes a word offensive? Do we need a watershed; or should a parent decide what their children can see?

You are the production team of a new soap opera on the BBC which will go out at 7.30pm. You meet to decide what story lines will be acceptable and which will not? Consider the following scenes – which would you, as a production team, consider acceptable in your soap. You must justify your reasoning: A scene containing the word c*** A scene showing two men kissing A scene where ‘Jesus’ is used as a swear word. A person taking drugs A scene showing rape A scene showing actual domestic violence