Idiot box: Here’s what passes for ‘educational’ programming on local TV
School is out for Kansas City kids. And, in the grand American tradition, our young’uns will soon crank the air conditioning, grab a Capri Sun and plop themselves in front of the TV for hours of entertainment. Don’t worry about their brains, though. The Federal Communications Commission has them covered.
The Children’s Television Act of 1990 mandates that broadcast stations air at least three hours of educational and informational shows each week. The FCC’s website explains that so-called “core programming” must be “specifically designed to serve the educational and informational needs of children 16 years of age and under, including the child’s intellectual/cognitive or social/emotional needs.” Each show filling those requirements has an E/I logo that appears onscreen.
But tune into any of the four Kansas City network affiliates on Saturday or Sunday morning, when many of these programs are broadcast, and it’s easy to find shows carrying the E/I logo that are, uh, not so educational. Here’s a sampling from local stations that, in many cases, sent typo-filled filings to the FCC explaining their E/I choices. Examples from reports filed in April, covering last quarter, are below. Typos are all theirs.
