July
27, 2009: Child AbuseWatch (CAN) today announced a campaign to boycott
TLC’s advertisers in response to the announcement of the continuation
of the series Jon & Kate plus Eight.
Starting on August 4, CAN will post a list of show advertisers on
their website (www.abusewatch.net). Members of the public are asked to
boycott the shows advertiser’s products and to contact the advertisers
to tell them why they are doing so. CAN will also issue a national
press release naming the advertisers in a focused PR effort to stop
the show, which a CAN spokesperson described as a “circus – a perfect
example of child abuse denial - where the needs of the children are
put behind the financial greed of the parents and TLC alike.”
It’s not like this is a surprise to The Learning Channel. TLC has been
under some pressure about the show for some time. CAN’s Executive
Director, Evin Daly, in an open letter to TLC’s Chairman, John
Hendricks and the TLC board advised of the boycott if the show was to
continue. CAN filed a complaint with TLC’s chairman on June 23 and
with the Department of Children and Family Services in Pennsylvania.
The concern CAN say is their perception of continued child abuse on
the show.
“Child abuse takes many forms,” Mr. Daly said in an interview, “In
this case the children are subject to emotion abuse as a result of the
drama of their parent’s lives that is recorded daily in the media and,
neglect.”
He went on to say that the children are unwilling participants in the
show due to their ages. “It would seem that TLC’s ratings and the
parent’s checks are more important than the wellbeing of the
children.” Daly said, “It’s incredible, given the amount of concerned
criticism this family has been getting, that TLC didn’t do the right
thing and wrap it up; it’s (Jon and Kate plus 8) long over as the cute
story of a large family growing up. It’s become a freak show with the
children as unwitting victims.”
TLC has not commented publicly in response to CAN’s July 23
communication to their chairman except to email CAN a customer service
form letter. Asked if they thought that their pressure would work, a
CAN spokesperson told us “It comes down to finance. TLC will watch
their viewer-ship numbers for the first couple of weeks and if they’re
getting killed - or if advertisers put pressure on them – they may
pull the show. If not, they won’t, unfortunately. All we can do is
bring what we see as an injustice to children to the public’s attention.”
The key it would seem comes down to viewers and what they decide to do
with their remotes; and wallets.
Child AbuseWatch (www.abusewatch.net)
is an international child abuse prevention organization whose stated
mission is ‘the protection of children from abuse.” They have three
websites customized for world regions. Their websites are designed to
educate the public about abuse awareness and prevention, in addition
to providing law enforcement and medical professionals with resources.
They have a presence in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Africa,
Australia and New Zealand.
References:
The Learning Channel: http://tlc.discovery.com/
Child AbuseWatch.net: www.abusewatch.net
Open letters to The Learning Channel from Child AbuseWatch:
07/23/09 John Hendricks at The Learning Channel (click)
06/23/09 John Hendricks at The Learning Channel (click)
