Adelphia Adds XXX Pornography to Cable

Our nation's fascination with pornography continues. Former "conservative" cable provider Adelphia has partnered with Playboy to provide the raunchiest fare on pay-TV available in their Southern California market. Adelphia, once considered "conservative" when they removed the Spice channel because it was considered too racy for viewers, is now chanting a new corporate mantra: sex sells!

New ownership directing the fifth-largest cable television company in the country appear proud of their new title: "porn-king of cable." In fact, Adelphia spokeswoman Erica Stull was quoted in recent news articles saying, "People want it, so we are trying to provide it. The more Xs, the more popular."

Stull is referring to the pornographic fare touted by Adelphia as triple-X, the most extreme and explicit variety currently available anywhere on cable TV. But cable companies and the porn industry itself is bearing no responsibility for continuing to push pornography on unsuspecting consumers - in fact, they claim they are only providing a service that people are more than willing to pay for and with current legal regulations, pay-TV such as cable and satellite programming is a legitimate venue to distribute their productions.

"This nation must regain its ability to distinguish good from evil," said Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the National Coalition. "Profitability and popularity are terrible criteria for evaluating worth, especially related to moral issues such as pornography," added Schatz.

Adelphia may be the king of cable porn and a popular target of outrage now, but they are far from alone at the top of the heap of corporate offenders who assume no responsibility for their actions and continue to put profit ahead of principle. Adelphia easily assuages its conscience with the fact that satellite providers have carved out a 20% share of the pay-TV market and have offered triple-X programming for years - and hard-core pornography on the Internet continues to be extremely profitable. Combined, the pornography industry with its strip clubs, magazines, Internet sites, TV and DVD sales is larger than box-office receipts from Hollywood movies!

"Until this trend is realized and reversed, companies like Adelphia will shirk their individual responsibility and replace it with their seemingly benign policy of providing what the public wants - regardless of the harm to individuals, families and the community as a whole," said Schatz.

We ask you to stand with us for children and families by writing the Department of Justice and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, voicing your shared concern over Adelphia's decision to offer triple-X pornography. You can find their contact information by visiting http://www.usdoj.gov/.

In addition, the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families would like to provide you with a reasonable defense to the argument that pornography is not harmful - quite to the contrary, evidence continues to mount demonstrating that pornography is a destructive element to the intimacy and connectedness of human relationships and to a community as a whole. Michael Craven's excellent expose on the harms of pornography titled Pornography: The Deconstruction of Human Sexuality is available on our web site at http://tool.donation-net.net/Decency/Deconstruct.cfm .