TLC puts dollars before decency
The Learning Channel (TLC) fired up
their cash cow Monday night with a new season of the
show Jon and Kate Plus Eight. They did so in
the face of a rising chorus of public criticism that
they have crossed an ethical line by continuing a show
mired in accusations of child emotional abuse and
neglect. Reviews of the show Tuesday did nothing to
dispel these concerns.
Child AbuseWatch (CAN), the
international child advocacy group, today accused TLC
of continuing to ignore the best interests of the
show’s children and of, ‘putting dollars before
decency.’
They went on to admonish John Hendricks, TLC’s
chairman, for allowing the show to continue. “Had the
show ended over the summer, we – as an audience –
would have perhaps forgiven the abuse concerns as a
lesson learned," Child AbuseWatch's, Executive
Director, Evin Daly commented,
“it’s obvious that to us all now that TLC, instead of
responding to viewer concerns, is instead licking
their chops in the anticipation that Plus 8
will continue to be a hard earner.”
Daly wrote to John Hendricks twice over the summer
outlining in detail what he saw as signs of child
abuse on the show. The correspondence garnered no
response except in the broadcast of the show as
scheduled Monday night. A spokesperson for CAN
remarked, “In essence TLC gave us, and their concerned
audience, the finger." Indeed.
Child AbuseWatch.net has confirmed that they are
rolling out a campaign to boycott TLC and their
advertisers as they advised they would in their last
letter to TLC. A recent news article and social
networking blast got a lot of support and attention.
Members of the public are asked to boycott the
stations advertiser’s products and to contact the
advertisers to tell them why they are doing so.
Child AbuseWatch (www.abusewatch.net)
is an international child abuse prevention
organization whose mission is ‘the protection of
children from abuse.” They have a presence in the
U.S., Canada, the UK, Europe, South Africa, Australia
and New Zealand.
Links:
The Learning Channel: http://tlc.discovery.com/
Child AbuseWatch.net: www.abusewatch.net
ButlerReport
