ian U.S. government international broadcasting, in-
cluding the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio and
TV Martí. The IBB and the BBG are independent
federal entities spun off from the now defunct U.S.
Information Agency when it was abolished in 1999
and several of its functions, excluding radio broad-
casting, were absorbed by the U.S. Department of
State.
National Public Radio’sOn the Medianoted that
while the United States “has spent close to a half bil-
lion dollars on TV and Radio Marti, the Cuban gov-
ernment has managed to effectively block the trans-
mission signal,” at least for television, and that
“viewership on the island is estimated to be a third of
one percent.” TV Martí broadcasts daily programs in
Spanish via two aerostats located ten miles above
Cudjoe Key, Florida. It airs half-hour early and late
evening newscasts, but the channel is also carried on
DirecTV, which is pirated by many Cuban civilians,
and on the Internet. A low-power Miami television
channel, WPMF-TV, carries TV Martí’s half-hour-
long early and late evening newscasts. During the
1990’s, both Radio and TV Martí reported on the ha-
rassment, detention, arrest, and incarceration of in-
dependent Cuban journalists.
Impact TV Martí remains a threat to the Cuban
government, which continues to insist that Ameri-
can penetration of its airwaves violates international
law. In 1999, the inspector general of the U.S. De-
partment of State told Congress that the Radio and
TV Martí stations had “problems with balance, fair-
ness, objectivity and adequate sourcing that im-
pacted credibility.”
Further Reading
U.S. Congress. House. Committee on International
Relations. Subcommittee on the Western Hemi-
sphere.Overview of Radio and Television Martí.
Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,
2003.
Youm, Kyu Ho. “The Radio and TV Martí Contro-
versy: A Re-Examination.”International Communi-
cation Gazette48, no. 2 (1991): 95-103.
Martin J. Manning
See also Foreign policy of the United States; Latin
America; Latinos; Television.
TV Parental Guidelines system
Identification Ratings designed to help parents
decide which television shows are appropriate
for their children
Date Established in 1996
Established by the National Association of Broadcasters,
the National Cable Television Association, and the Mo-
tion Picture Association of America, this ratings system pro-
vided a way for parents to supervise their children’s television
viewing and demonstrated change in television program-
ming from a single-audience medium to a multiple-audience
mode of entertainment and information.
The traditional view of television since its inception
had been that it was like a guest in the home, and
should, therefore, offend no one. As more adult-
oriented programming began to appear in the
1970’s and 1980’s, such fare was typically prefaced by
a warning, “This program contains mature subject
matter. Parental discretion is advised.” By the 1990’s,
more shows on basic cable and even network televi-
sion appealed to an adult audience, or allowed con-
tent many people considered unsuitable for chil-
dren: sex on soap operas, language on nighttime
dramas, or violence on crime dramas and series such
asThe X-FilesandTwin Peaks.To forestall controversy
and the threat of legislative action, the Federal Com-
munications Commission (FCC) persuaded the
broadcast industry to develop a ratings system simi-
lar to the one for motion pictures.
The rating system is as follows: TV-Y, suitable for
all ages, with content especially designed for chil-
dren ages two to six; TV-Y7, for children age seven
and older; TV-Y7-FV, directed to older children, con-
tains fantasy violence; TV-G, for general audiences,
all ages; TV-PG, parental guidance suggested be-
cause of mature themes, some violence, sexual sit-
uations, rough language, or suggestive dialogue;
TV-14, parents strongly cautioned—may be unsuit-
able for those under fourteen years of age because
of strong violence, mature sexual situations, strong
language, and/or extremely suggestive dialogue
(corresponds roughly to a PG-13 film); and TV-MA,
mature audience only—may be inappropriate for
those under seventeen because of graphic violence,
explicit sex, or very strong language (equivalent to a
theatrical R). The descriptors D (dialogue), S (sex),
L (language), and V (violence) accompany the rat-
ings.872 TV Parental Guidelines system The Nineties in America