The Importance Of Media Censorship

New technology has evolved and become a part of our daily lives, so do television and what people are allowed to view on a regular basis. Censorship, a word which seems to be causing quite some controversies over certain people may not be such a bad idea. Today there is much contentions about whether there should or shouldn’t be censorship in the media. Censorship should not be forced on citizens by the government or other agencies; adults do not have a privilage to view or listen to what they choose. Censorship includes the examination and blocking of books, movies and films, plays, radio and television programs, news reports, and other communication media that is shown to, or available to the public. Media censorship is sometimes put into

Television should never be utilized as an electronic babysitter. Guidelines to manage electronic media exist, however, personal responsibility and obligation are the cornerstones to healthy television viewing habits, not potentially violating free discourse. This is not to recommend that a child can be monitored 24 hours a day. However establishing a sound foundation is vital. It is related that self scrutiny occurs before we begin to blame the media for anything. As David Gordon said "The antidote for wrong, dangerous, or offensive speech should be more speech by those who disagree with the original statements, rather than restrictions on the original speech." (Gordon & Kittross, 1999) This statement can be applied to literal speech or television or movie content. Censorship for children is necessary because the average American view's 100,000 demonstrating of violence on TV before reaching the age of thirteen. Huge numbers of the violent acts are presented news stations which are stations parents or adults watch to find out information about road conditions and weather, or anything that can help with daily life. If the government were to bring censorship to these stations adults would not see the news reports in their area or around the world. For this to be avoided, the government should leave censorship to

White wrote "I believe that television is going to be the test of the modern world, and in this new opportunity to see beyond the range of our own vision, we shall discover either a new and unbearable disturbance of the general peace or a saving radiance in the sky. We shall stand or fall by television." (Murray, 1995) Television is either beneficial or detrimental to society, perhaps both. Certainly, there exist examines that would equally support both theories. A progression of studies directed by Seymour Feshbach and Robert D. Singer recommend that television violence does not advance violence in children, they explicitly express that the issue "arises from a concern over an important contemporary social issue." (Feshbach & Singer, 1977) After breaking down several social and experimental psychology studies David Howitt and Guy Cumberbatch arrived at a comperative judgment. They concluded that many studies didn't specify explanations behind why correlation was made between television violence and violence in society. (Howitt and Cumberbatch, 1975) Albert Bandura on the other hand set the precedence with his studies correlating the viewing of television violence and promoting violence among viewers. His various studies provided strong evidence of televised violence producing aggressive and vicious conduct in viewers. (Bandura et al. 1963) The innumerable and varied studies on this subject suggest that there exist no definitive