But they favor stricter industry regulation rather than government censorship of entertainment, a Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

When asked if they agreed with Dole, who recently scolded Hollywood for mass-producing entertainment that he decribed as nightmares of depravity, 71 percent of those polled agreed with the Kansas Republican’s stark assessment, while only 23 percent disagreed.

Indeed, 61 percent of the 1,109 adults polled nationwide June 9-11 said that the content of American entertainment is getting worse, while 9 percent viewed it as getting better.

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The poll results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

But while Americans are clearly disturbed by the level of sex and violence in the media, they resist having the government impose Draconian responses.

Over half of those surveyed believe there is a greater danger to society from the government imposing undue restrictions on entertainment than in any hurtful material produced by the entertainment industry.

Hollywood also can take comfort in the fact that 51 percent of those polled believe the entertainment industry is within its constitutional rights of free speech when presenting material that some view as objectionable or offensive.

Those polled were divided over whether they would ever support an organized boycott of companies that advertise their products on TV shows depicting violence and sex.

While Dole provoked intense protest from the entertainment industry when he slammed some rap groups and such films as Natural Born Killers and True Romance for what he said were their depictions of mindless violence and loveless sex, he nonetheless tapped into the frustration of many Americans alarmed at graphic sex and violence in the media.

The poll found that this concern is held across the political spectrumnot just with the far right, which Dole has been trying to cultivate since mounting his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

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He clearly tapped into something that concerns many Americans, though his own political gain from it remains questionable, said Times Poll director John Brennan. Though 71 percent agree with his attacks on the industry, only 18 percent feel more favorable toward him because of those attacks and 12 percent feel less favorable.

These feelings are not the domain of the Republicans or the religious right, Brennan added. They are broad-based concerns, with even young people and ideological liberalsthe groups most friendly to the industryagreeing in many cases.

While the debate over sex and violence in the entertainment media is not new, the poll found broad public agreement with Dole’s stance.

A majority of young adults, for instance, view the movie, TV and recording industries positively, as do many liberals. Even so, Brennan pointed out, a majority of every major demographic group agrees with Dole’s criticism, including 64 percent of people aged 18-29, 59 percent of liberals, 64 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of blacks. A majority of those polled think that the people who work in the film, TV and pop music industries do not share their values.

Americans think that violence in entertainment is a serious problem. But they have many other things on their minds when asked to name the principle causes of violence in society.