Media Violence

Those who scapegoat the media for crime focus on the programs. This study focused on the commercials, with an elaborate sampling scheme to pick the commercials children might watch during sports events [which themselves often contain violent behavior.] The raters found that 14% of commercials displayed unsafe behavior and 6% portrayed violence. Of course, you’re never able to view just one commercial. Using commercial breaks as a unit, 49% contained at least one bad actor. The super bowl had 4 times as many unsafe or violent commercials as the Masters Golf Tournament [which is a snoozer to begin with.] Commercials for cars were amongst the worst for products.

Content media is still a culprit. Only 18% of reviewed commercials advertised movies or television programs, yet these commercials accounted for 86% of all violent commercials. Forty-eight percent of commercials that contained violence were for movies, and an additional 38% were for television programs. Of course, if you want guys to watch movies, what kind of movies are you going to advertise.
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Pediatrics. 2004 Dec;114(6):e694-8.

Unsafe and violent behavior in commercials aired during televised major sporting events.Tamburro RF, Gordon PL, D'Apolito JP, Howard SC.Division of Critical Care Medicine, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, 332 North Lauderdale, Memphis, Tennessee 38105-2784, USA. robert.tamburro@stjude.org… For sporting events with >3 programs in the top 50 (NFL regular season games, NFL playoff games, Winter Olympic events, and Major League Baseball World Series)…commercials … were reviewed at standard speed for unsafe behavior or violence. …Commercials were categorized according to the product being advertised. Unsafe behavior was simply defined as any action that could have harmful consequences or that contravened the injury prevention recommendations of national organizations. ... The proportion of commercials that depicted unsafe behavior and/or violence during each sporting event was compared with the proportion of such commercials that were observed during the Masters Golf Tournament (which had the lowest proportion of commercials depicting such behavior). The proportion of commercials that contained violent/unsafe behavior for each advertised product was compared with the proportion of such commercials that advertised food or nonalcoholic beverages…. Of the 1185 commercials assessed, 14% (n = 165) displayed unsafe behavior and 6% (n = 66) depicted violence. Of the 322 commercial breaks, 158 (49%) contained at least 1 commercial showing unsafe behavior or violence. … The Super Bowl had the highest proportion of such commercials, and the Masters Golf Tournament had the least (relative risk: 4.3; 95% confidence interval: 1.4-12.5). The Masters Golf Tournament was noteworthy for the complete absence of violent commercials. Only 18% of reviewed commercials advertised movies or television programs, yet these commercials accounted for 86% of all violent commercials. Forty-eight percent of commercials that contained violence were for movies, and an additional 38% were for television programs. … Several categories of commercials portrayed unsafe behaviors; commercials for automobiles accounted for the most. In 8 different categories, 10% or more of the commercials depicted unsafe behavior, …