Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 20, 1995                   TAG: 9509200068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

GIRLS UNHAPPY WITH THEIR TV ROLE MODELS

That's among the findings of a poll of schoolchildren's attitudes toward TV programming commissioned by a national youth organization.

The poll, conducted by Louis Harris and Associates, was released Tuesday by Girls Incorporated, a not-for-profit group that challenged the television industry to deliver more diverse and realistic portrayals of girls' lives.

``Girls want better, more diverse TV,'' said Isabel Carter Stewart, national executive director of Girls Incorporated. ``Girls want to see themselves and their reality.'' Too often, she added, TV ``insults and devalues them.''

The poll found, among other things, that females are likely to feel their age and gender are underrepresented on TV. Between 43 percent and 55 percent of girls and young women say there are too few programs about females their age, about girls engaged in interesting adventures and about women in challenging careers.

- Associated Press