Nearly half of all French television programming is produced in the United States. Violence on television is popular, widespread, increasing; this trend results from the financial pressures and competition among the six public and private networks. The Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA), a nine-member government-appointed organization, has established a code on television violence, designed to protect children against violent images between 6 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. CSA's 1993 report noted that news broadcasts have increasingly focused on violence. The social impact of violence on television has been the subject of much national debate. France's ideological context and the power of lobbies that fight censorship make it difficult for the CSA to set rules about media violence. French observers have long praised the violence in American films. Currently, the French media now considers whatever is currently deemed anti-puritan and or anti-establishment to be progressive and genuine. French observers have long regarded the violent action in blockbuster films as a symbolic expression of deep motivations reflecting the malaise of civilization rather than simply as an end in itself. The duplicity of such discourse on violence is longstanding. 14 references and lists of films