Page:Bailey Review.djvu/34

The 'Wallpaper' of Children's Lives Clearly television cannot be indifferent to popular culture or turn its back on pop music, comedy or other popular entertainments. Nor are we suggesting that pre—watershed dramas should not deal with difficult issues. Yet it appears to be the case that many parents are concerned about the content of certain programmes shown before the watershed and that pre—watershed programming can be unexpectedly difficult for parents. We believe that parents do not accept, for example, that if a variety show features a pop musician with a reputation for delivering highly sexualised performances that the broadcaster has licence to sail as close to the edge of compliance with the Broadcasting Code as possible. It appears from a recent ruling that Ofcom agrees with this: in response to over 2,800 complaints from viewers about the live performances of Rihanna and Christina Aguilera on the X Factor final show of 11 December 2010, Ofcom found that while the content of the programme did not breach the Broadcasting Code:

"Ofcom will shortly be issuing new guidance about the acceptability of material in pre—watershed programmes that attract large family viewing audiences. We will also be requesting that broadcasters who transmit such programming attend a meeting at Ofcom to discuss the compliance of such material."Ofcom, 2011(1)

31