WHEREAS science and our common experience prove that exposure to violent images make the mind of the viewer (or listener, or reader) more agitated, depressed, and prone to violence, and

WHEREAS such images are ubiquitous in today’s media, and

WHEREAS the state of our minds creates a general climate that affects all of us, for good or ill,

I HEREBY PLEDGE not to patronize, as far as I can reasonably refrain from doing so, any media, whether it is couched as news, entertainment, or opinion, as fact or fiction, that make use of violence for the purpose of creating sensations in the consumer.

By violence in this context I mean any act of human cruelty, including vulgar and abusive language that may be directed against any person by reason of her or his race, gender, or any other reason, especially, again, if such imagery is for the main purpose of creating sensations, including unnecessarily graphic descriptions of items considered news.

I PLEDGE FURTHER to explain my position firmly but politely when opportunities afford for doing so, always showing respect for those who may disagree, AND

as opportunities afford, either individually or in concert with others, to make my position known to the producers of such media and the advertisers who support them, always holding open the possibility of returning to those media when and if they amend their policies.