Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson's cable TV company will launch a family entertainment guide this week to help people find wholesome movies, TV shows, books and even computer activities.
The first four recommendations that will carry The Family Channel's seal of quality will be published Friday in USA Today. A new list will appear each Friday under the cable channel's yellow, blue and red banner.
``There's an outcry against the excessive sex and violence in television and everywhere else,'' said John Damoose, senior vice president for marketing and corporate communications at International Family Entertainment Inc., The Family Channel's parent company. ``This is the beginning to creating a source authority for what quality family entertainment is and where to find it.''
The recommendations will range from movies, television and video programs to books, computer games and CD-ROMs, video games, music and online services on the Internet.
The initial four recommendations, which Damoose declined to disclose ahead of publication, include a public television program, a home video, an educational book and an offering on the World Wide Web.
Programs on The Family Channel, which already are geared to the type of entertainment that the seal targets, won't be put in the guide because that would be self-serving, Damoose said.
``What we want to do is congratulate and raise the flag for other people,'' he said.
The guide also won't issue warnings about potentially offensive entertainment. ``We felt like we ought to take the positive stand here,'' Damoose said. ``We didn't feel like we ought to point a finger at the negative.''
Even without ballyhooing The Family Channel's programs, the guide is likely to draw more attention to the for-profit spinoff of Robertson's nonprofit Christian Broadcasting Network.
``We may ultimately do an academy awards of great family entertainment'' on the cable channel, Damoose said.
The qualifications for a recommendation include:
The content is of a wholesome and positive nature.
It is respectful of relationships.
It is entertaining, enriching and of enduring value.
It can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Judging is being done by an IFE internal committee. But Damoose said a panel of independent educators and entertainment leaders will be formed to set long-term policies for the seal of quality program.
by CNB