ABSTRACT
In the United States, the presence of strong policy advocacy organizations in children’s television was instrumental to the current state of the medium in many respects. From the early and relentless spotlight shone by Action for Children’s Television, to the regulatory savvy of the Center for Media Education, to the ongoing digital media work of a coalition led by Children Now, public interest groups captured, and then channeled into action, the attention of parents, press, legislators and regulators. Beyond their concrete achievements—the Children’s Television Act of 1990 and its 2004 update that embraced the technological potential of digital television—the regulatory advocates made it impossible for broadcasters to escape scrutiny of their service to young people. (See Montgomery, chap 12, this volume, for more about policy advocacy organizations).
