Editorial: on TV guidelines

Are raunchy sex scenes okay on mainstream television? What about adult storylines and swearing? Violence? Nudity?
These are thorny questions as the controversial issue of what is acceptable content on mainstream television is again debated.
In today's edition, we canvas the wider issue of broadcasting standards after it was put in front of a parliamentary select committee this week.
Labour MP Lianne Dalziel is leading the charge, saying that things have got so bad that even Coronation Street, once the conservative soap of the older generation, is too raunchy to be aired before 8.30pm.
She made her comments to the Broadcasting Standards Authority at the commerce select committee. The MP also takes aim at popular Shortland Street.
The Broadcasting Standards Authority has been criticised for being too conservative in recent decisions as it faces a push to be more liberal.
It is important to note two recent court decisions.
Both Television New Zealand and TV3 recently went to the High Court appealing BSA decisions on sex scenes.
TVNZ won its fight over late-night comedy-drama Hung, which showed an eyebrow-raising sex scene. But TV3 lost its case for Home and Away, which featured a passionate partially-nude scene, because the show is classified as suitable for children and screened when children were likely to be watching.
Television is such an integrated part of people's lives and there would hardly be a living room in the Western Bay that didn't have a television going, if not dominating, after school and work.
As programmes become more liberal, if not risque, young people have been increasingly exposed to more adult-like content. Music videos that feature on C4 are one example, not to mention the innuendo-laced Two-and-a-Half Men, which is on before 8.30pm.
So, should the watershed time of 8.30pm be brought forward an hour? Or should shows of dubious content be strictly shown only after 8.30pm? Colmar Brunton research in 2008 showed awareness of this benchmark was not high. Under one-half of parents and one-quarter of children were able to identify 8.30pm as the time after which programmes not suitable for children were shown.
Parents have in theory a huge amount of power when it comes to what their children watch.
But some are too busy or don't care. And there are always opportunities for children to break the rules or accidentally see something they shouldn't.
Adults will have different views on what is acceptable for them and children. Words which created a storm back in the early 1990s are today acceptable to many people.
Under BSA rules, broadcasters should take into account current norms of good taste and decency, bearing in mind factors such as programme classification, target audience, type of programme and use of warnings.
But the evidence is boundaries are increasingly being pushed.
A comprehensive review of what is acceptable is timely and should involve public input. It is time the country gave the BSA some new guidelines.