}

Monday, October 04, 2010

TV volume, part 2

On Friday, I wrote about how the US was getting ready to regulate the volume of TV commercials as the US is in the process of doing. I mentioned that I wrote to New Zealand’s Minister of Broadcasting, Dr Jonathan Coleman, to ask if New Zealand might follow the lead of the US.

Today I got a form email response from Dr Coleman’s Private Secretary saying, “The Minister will consider the issues you have raised and respond as soon as he is able.” Fair enough; I didn’t expect an immediate answer, after all.

New Zealanders who would like the volume of television commercials regulated can contact the Minister*. Be sure to include your real name, address and phone number so they know you’re really a New Zealander.

Obviously this isn’t an earth-shatteringly important issue, nor the most important I address on this blog—and definitely not as important as issues I’ll take on in the future. But it’s such a small, easily-fixed problem that a little “people power” might just win the day. What have we got to lose but a couple minutes writing an email? Well, that, and having to reach for the mute button every time a TV commercial comes on.

I’ll pass on what, if anything, the Minister ultimately says about this.

*I wanted to put a link to his email address, but Blogger stripped-out the "no spam" code and converts it to simple "mailtto" code, which spambots can easily harvest. So instead I've included a link to the page with his contact information.

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