Ethics and the Business of children's public television programming

Abstract

While a great deal has been written condemningcommercial children's television programming,merchandising, and advertising, children'sprogramming on the Public Broadcasting System(PBS) has largely escaped scrutiny. PBSchildren's programming has generally been cededthe higher moral ground in the debate about theethics of marketing to children via televisionprogramming. With recent cut backs in fundingto public television, revenue raising hasbecome a matter of survival for public TV. Hasthe overwhelming onslaught of children's publicTV merchandising sacrificed the moral trust ofthe viewing public? This paper examines themerchandising of ``educational'' television froman ethical perspective.