Censorship

Cari P.

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Censorship

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Abstract

From the early days of the printed word to the advent of the internet, the mass distribution of ideas has raised concerns of overexposure and censorship. Today censorship is the center of one of the most heated debates in America. Those fighting for censorship of the media and those working to protect First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and expression, walk a thin line as both sides of the argument get blurred in the middle and questions of morality, public good, personal authority, and majority opinion come into play.

Introduction
The main reasons
The debate over censorship
Apologies by MTV and CBS
Janet Jackson's breast controversy
New technologies and ways of mass distributing information
Changes in the views of the people
The advent of cable television
The main argument for censorship of television and media
The conservative critics
Conclusion
Bibliography

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[...] questions and also to ponder whether or not we will even need censorship in the future, and if we will, what could form could it possibly take on? On February the debate over censorship was given a new cause. Super Bowl XXXVIII was played at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas and aired to over 85 million homes across the U.S with an estimated 140 million viewers (Burns). MTV was in charge of the half-time show where Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were scheduled to perform together. [...]

[...] Censorship advocates want more than family packages, they are currently pushing for a la carte channel buying where any given household can select each and every channel it receives. This could give parents the opportunity to leave channels like the Comedy Centrals and the MTVs off of their sets. Many feel that this is a more fair way of packaging television as you are not paying for the things you do not watch, but few are exploring the implications of this idea. [...]

[...] Where in years prior sex between a married couple could only be implied by two twin beds and a darkening television screen, the aging baby boomers were ready for a new, racier television. in the Family was the predominant battering ram that broke down the restrictions placed on television content during the preceding twenty years the series introduced issues of ethnicity and bigotry as staples of its content,” (Encyclopedia). Censorship became much more difficult to manage. It became clear that the concept of the audience was being redefined to fit both space and time. [...]

[...] The advent of cable television blew the lid off of the censorship box by offering a different mode of distribution. Now Americans paid extra for channels not on regular broadcast networks. These channels could show more explicit sexual and violent programming as it was an elective to the basic cable. Broadcasting however did not go unaffected. compete, broadcast TV loosened standards on such shows as NYPD Blue, one of the first to feature nudity” (Griggs), which only incited more attacks from conservative advocacy groups calling for censorship. [...]

[...] Another common argument against censorship is that “almost all new media outlets are subscription-based. Consumers must take affirmative steps—and spend a fair amount of money—to bring these services into their homes,” (Thierer). Is it not be possible then to simply keep these forms of technology and media away from the children? Many argue that the problem does not lie with the broadcasters but with the parents. A survey in 2005 by the First Amendment Center “found that 82 percent of Americans believe that parents should be primarily responsible for shielding kids from inappropriate material on (Griggs). [...]

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