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557 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. 7 (1998)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0557 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE This issue of The Annals examines contemporary debates surrounding children's television: its potential as an educational resource, definitions of quality and educational, the necessity for government regulation, and the increasing access that advertisers have to children through television and other media. This volume opens with an article by Huston and Wright, who examine the ways in which television contributes to the social, cognitive, and intellectual development of children. Anderson draws on his research and educational literature to counter critics who contend that television produces shortened attention spans and retards thought and language development. Arguments by researchers such as Huston, Wright, and Anderson led, in part, to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate that commercial broadcasters air a minimum of three hours a week of educational program- ming in order to receive expedited review of their license renewal applications. Battles over the new regulations reveal that feelings run deep and eco- nomic stakes are high. Kunkel writes that the 1997 children's television regulations were the culmination of a protracted and contentious battle between advocates, academics, and industry representatives over the amount, definition, and labeling of educational programs. The newly imple- mented television rating system, Cantor tells us, elicited a similar debate. The implementation of children's television regulations gives rise to the question of definition: what constitutes quality and educational in chil- dren's television? The FCC's definition of educational and informational is vague and includes both prosocial and traditional academic types of shows, leaving what counts toward the three hours to the judgment of the broad- caster. Alexander, Hoerrner, and Duke examine the television industry's definition of quality in their analysis of the program characteristics that producers highlight in nominations of children's shows for the Peabody Award. Jordan and Woodard offer a different perspective in their definitions of both quality and educational developed to analyze the quality and educational strength of current children's television programs. They also report on parents' and children's perceptions of quality in children's television. Where do parents turn to find out about quality programs for children? Aday reports that it is unlikely to be the newspaper. His analysis of newspa- per coverage of kids' TV indicates that reviews of children's programs are less likely to appear than stories about soap operas or talk shows. Nonetheless, it is critical for parents to become familiar with the content and quality of their children's favorite programs. Television provides children with a big- picture view of the world and their place in it, as well as information about how to judge others. As Dobrow and Gidney point out, animated programs 7

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