National Institute on Media and the Family

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The National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF), founded by psychologist Dr. David Walsh in 1996, is a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis, MN. It is a nonsectarian advocacy group which seeks to monitor mass media for content that it deems is harmful to children and families. The group characterizes itself as "an international resource center for cutting-edge research and information" and denies playing any role in media censorship.^[1]

1 MediaWise movement
- 1.1 Video Game Report Cards
2 Controversies
3 References
4 External links

[edit] MediaWise movement

The MediaWise movement is the publicity and community outreach arm of the NIMF. Through it the organization sponsors speaking engagements given by its staff throughout the country, although most events take place at educational and religious insitutions in the state of Minnesota. David Walsh is notable as the spokesperson for the NIMF, having given numerous interviews to national news programs and newspapers in this capacity.^[2]

[edit] Video Game Report Cards

The primary publication of the MediaWise movement is an annual report on the marketing, distribution, and impact of video games to minors.^[3] This "Video Game Report Card" is comprised of results to national surveys, summaries of recently completed research projects, and a grade-based assessment of the Entertainment Software Association's efforts to regulate the sales of video games to minors.

The 2005 MediaWise Video Game Report Card criticized the Entertainment Software Rating Board's system of rating video games for age-appropriate conduct in its annual series of report cards, noting the scarcity of "Adults-Only" rated games and citing the perceived inadequacy in retailer enforcement. Several days after the report was released, the United States National Parent Teacher Association issued a press release condemning it, stating that "[the report card] contained erroneous statements about National PTA's position on the Entertainment Software Rating Board's (ESRB) rating system. In fact, National PTA does not endorse NIMF's report. Further, it does not agree with the report's characterization of ESRB and its rating system."^[4]

[edit] Controversies

In 2005 the NIMF made the controversial claim that the video game industry was promoting cannibalism after analyzing stills and video clips from a zombie-themed game titled Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse. Dr. Walsh was asked about this in a podcast interview with Dennis McCauley, owner of gamepolitics.com. During the interview Dr. Walsh did not acknowledge the NIMF's apparent error, instead claming that video gamers tricked him into thinking there was cannibalism in the game.

In late 2006 Walsh proposed the coining of a neologism to fill what he sees is a gap in English vocabulary: killographic, to be defined as the "graphic depiction of brutal violence." This is intended as an analogy to "pornographic", which he defines as the "graphic depiction of sexual acts".^[5] This term has been the subject of considerable public debate. Doug Lowenstein, head of the Entertainment Software Association, described it as a "clever phrase", but noted that the average age of video gamers is 28, and that "as adults they should be allowed to pick their entertainment."^[6]