Media Censorship

Censorship of the media is a hotly contested topic. The public has declared that there is excessive
violence portrayed on television and that this violence ultimately negatively affects viewers, especially
children.

Censorship is the regulation and control of information and ideas that are circulated among people within
a society. It refers to the examination of electronic and print media for the purposes of altering and/or
suppressing parts of the media thought to be inappropriate and/or offensive (Microsoft Encarta 97) The
implication ofcensorship is that it is necessary for the protection of the viewing public. The following is a
discussion of violence portrayed in the media, its impact on the viewing public, and censorship of the
media. This paper also provides a viable solution to the negative impact of the violence in the media.
Violence In the Media and Its Impact It's inconceivable not to think that television couldn't influence our
attitudes and behaviors. Neil Postman makes this point by outlining America's movement from a
typographic society to telegraphic society. (Postman, 1985) This is not to suggest passivity. Much of what
is aired on television is fictional. However, proponents of censorship argue that television creates a false
sense of reality and influences not only young children but teenagers as well.

In one incident after viewing the movie The Program, a teen-aged boy was killed and two others were
injured after lying down along the centerline of a highway. The teenagers were imitating a scene from the
movie. Touchstone Pictures removed the scene from the movie as a result of the tragedy with the
teenagers. Another incident in Ohio, five-year-old Austin Messner set his parent's house a fire killing his
sister after viewing the popular MTV cartoon Beavis and Butthead. In response MTV moved the program
to a time slot four hours later. However, did not claim responsibility. (Microsoft Internet's explorer) The
implication is that people are passive beings easily influenced by what they see. Another implication is
that all people have shared experiences and will think and react alike. Neil Postman advances the
thought that television viewing is our way of knowing ourselves and the world ( Postman, 1985)

E.B. 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) White was correct. Television is either beneficial or detrimental to society, perhaps both.
Certainly, there exist studies that would equally support both theories. A series of studies conducted by
Seymour Feshbach and Robert D. Singer suggests that television violence does not promote violence in
children, they explicitly state that the issue "arises from a concern over an important contemporary social
issue." (Feshbach & Singer, 1977) After analyzing several social and experimental psychology studies
David Howitt and Guy Cumberbatch arrived at a similar conclusion. They concluded that many studies
didn't specify reasons for 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/or violent behavior in viewers.
(Bandura et al. 1963) The innumerable and varied studies on this subject suggest that there exist no
definitive answer.

The examples cited suggest the potential and very real impact on the viewing public. However, the lack
of research suggests this type of extreme behavior is more the exception and not the norm. Speculation
of the effects of television violence on the viewing public will continue. Censorship Unfortunate tragedies
such as the MTV related incident and the Program related incident draw strong public support for
censorship of the media. Should the producers of these programs be held accountable? Yes, producers
should be concerned with the content of their programs, however, American society has long since
passed that point. Television is a multi billion-dollar industry. The primary concern of the television
industry is to net a profit and then entertain the consumers. The network with the highest rating means
more profit the network. Censorship is not only controversial but quite difficult to implement. Who decides
what is inappropriate or too violent, such vague terminology would be difficult to define. For many years
the film industry has practiced a form of self-censorship. Increasing demands from the public forced the
industry to develop a system classification in 1968. The major networks voluntarily adhere to a self-
regulating system this is in conjunction with regulations established by the Federal Communications
Commission. (Microsoft Encarta, 1997)

The V-chip is the most current weapon in the censorship battle. Parents are able to block certain
channels so that children are not exposed to violent programming. Analysis As stated above the effects of
television violence on viewers, especially children are not definitive. Evidence can be provided to support
either position. A logical inclination would be to agree with Feshbach and Singer. Some underlying issue
is the basis for such drastic behavior as lying in the middle of highway and not merely the influence of
television. Another factor should be considered before drawing any correlation between television
violence and influence of viewing television violence, the existence of bias among the researchers.
Howitt's and Cumberbatch's Mass Media and Society was published in 1975 they espoused then that the
media on whole needed to be reevaluated. It would be interesting to know their respective opinions about
the content of today's media. There are many unanswered questions produced by the continuous
research on television viewing of violent programs. What does it say about American society when a
gratuitously violent television programs get high ratings? What does it say about how we socialize our
children? Are the programs an accurate reflection of our reality? Solutions The alternative options aren't
new and have probably been discussed before. These alternatives aren't difficult to implement. Parents
can and should take responsibility for what their children watch:

1. help the child select appropriate programs,

2. establish guidelines of appropriate times, and

3. being aware of what your children are watching, as Austin Messner's mother should have been.

This is not to suggest that a child can be monitored 24 hours a day. However establishing a sound
foundation is important. It's pertinent that self analyzation occurs before we begin to blame the media for
anything. Television should be a technology by which we are entertained and informed, however it is
necessary to discern what we consider appropriate programming. Television should never be used as an
electronic babysitter, as is suggested by the unfortunate Messner case. Guidelines to regulate electronic
media exist, however, personal accountability and responsibility are the cornerstones to healthy television
viewing habits, not potentially violating free speech. 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 and/or movie content.

Society has been affected and will continue to be affected not only by television but the media in general.
Television is a constant form of entertainment and occasionally an average source of news. However,
television has been blamed for much of societies flaws because it is easy to attribute it to violence in the
media and a social of lack of initiative. Television is a small part of a much larger societal picture and
should be weighed as such.

WORKS CITED

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 1997 Postman, Neil Amusing Ourselves to Death; Public Discourse in
the Age of Show Business, Viking Penguin Inc. 1985 Microsoft Internet Explorer Murray John P. "Children
and Television Violence" Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy, 4 No. 3 1995 Bandura, A., Ross D. &
Ross, S.A. "Imitation of Film Mediated Aggressive Models" Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology
1963 Feshbach, S. and Singer, R. D. Television and Aggression, 1977 Howitt, D. and Cumberbatch G.
Mass Media and Society, 1975 Gordon, D. and Kittross Controversies in Media Ethics, 1999
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MLA Citation:
"Censorship of Media Violence." 123HelpMe.com. 12 May 2014
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