Censorship in the U.S. Media

Censorship in the U.S. media

Increasing competition for survival and pressures for making profit led the media to resort to lower quality content which seems harmful to the society, which necessitated the authorities to censor the media.

Censorship refers to the regulation of speech and other types of human expression, sometimes with reference to the government regulations. It normally prevails upon the actions that take place in public settings and normally relates to repression of them by culminating their expression. The censorship extends from particular words to complete concepts and the purported aim of censorship is to normalize or develop the society over which government has regulation. The origin of censorship is seen in England with introduction of the copyright laws that entailed the crown the authority of license publishing. It forbade printing without government sanction. It is sometimes referred to as prior restraint when a court or other governmental body forbids a person from speaking or publishing. Censorship in some countries like People's Republic of China, Saudi Arabia and Australia, are explicitly detailed in laws that clearly forbids the select positions from being published or propagated. Sometimes it is implied in the form of intimidation by government where people are fearful to express or support some opinions because of the fear of losing their jobs, their status in society, their credibility, or even to the extent of losing their lives. (Censorship)

Analysis:

The Government in United States is forbidden categorically by the U.S. Bill of Rights to censor advocacy of religious ideas or practices and assures the rights of citizens to express and publish freely and also to assemble to demand redress of grievances. However, the Censorship in the United States is exercised widely in almost every respect of the media. The Federal Communication Commission -- FCC controls 'indecent' free-to-air broadcasting. It authorizes to impose fines when the broadcaster employs some swear words. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 regulates the political campaigning in terms of imposing restrictions on the purchase of TV and radio advertising that finds out a federal candidate within 30 days of primary or nominating convention or within sixty days of that of a general election. (Censorship in the United States)

The Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 and the Atomic Energy Act of 1956 withholds the patents and maintains confidentiality during war on the plea of national security. Supporting censorship in respect of obscene pornography the courts took the plea that the First Amendment safeguards indecent pornography from regulation but not 'obscene' pornography. The Communication Decency Act aims at regulating Internet Pornography. The external movement of cryptography software is controlled as armaments under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- DMCA forbids trafficking in 'devices' that evades copy protection. Libel laws are more widely applied against the free expression of individuals in public forums. (Censorship in the United States)

The pioneers of media literacy are not are antagonistic towards the protectionist or inoculationist philosophy and visualizes that the media education as a mode to safeguard children from bad messages and in the process defame their favorite TV programs, music videos and video games. Most of the teachers reveal that students are not attentive to the idea that they are victims of media effects and therefore necessary to be extricated from the excesses and evils of their interest in popular culture. In the early part of the year 2002, the White House brought out a significant policy document on Media Literacy Education realizing the effect of media on youth of America and extending the media literacy education to assist them attain skills to intelligently navigate the media and filter the so called bad messages. The report recommended three strategies: 'parent-focused', Internet-focused', and 'faith based'. (Heins; Cho, 2003)

In the United States and territories, the Motion Picture Association of America has instituted the system of rating a movie on the basis of its content. Through such rating system it has become possible for the patrons to determine as to which movies may be suitable for children and/or adolescents. The rating system is equally applicable to both theatrical as well as home video releases. Presently, the MPAA movie rating system categorizes the motion pictures into five categories. The first category Rated G. admits the general audiences of all ages. The second category Rated PG indicates that the some content of the movie is not appropriate for children and therefore necessitates Parental Guidance. The third group Rated PG-13 warns the parents of some contents in the movie to be not suitable for the children under the age of 13 years. The fourth category Rated R. indicates restricted movies that requires the accompanying of parent or adult guardian for the children under 17 years. The last category Rated NC-17 indicates that none under 17 are admitted. The rating system has been introduced on November 1, 1968 as a result of extensive citizen complaints against the increasing explicit sexual content, graphic violence, scatology and profanity in American films. (MPAA film rating system)

The overwhelming public protest against crime and horror and the sexual allusions appearing in comics during 1950s led most of the major comic book publishers of America to form an Association that enforces censorship to their own comics. The Comic Code Authority, so formed forbids representation of gore, sexuality and excessive violence. It prohibits the disrespectful presentation or ridicule of the authority figures. It bans the scenes of ghouls, vampires, werewolves or zombies. It also prohibits the advertisements of liquor, tobacco, nude pin-ups, knives, fireworks, postcards and also the toilet items of questionable nature. (Comics Code Authority)