Salvador Valencia
10/26/12
Project 3: Evaluation
1ST Draft<What comes to mind when you hear the word “Censorship?” Do you imagine something
being ‘bleeped’ out or some sort of media being shielded from you? Well that’s basically what
censorship is; it’s a barrier that stands between indecency and what is considered to be ‘ok’ in
today’s media. It is a barrier that keeps immoral content out of everyday lives of decent
average listeners. This is a big problem with the accessibility of mass media to the public in
today’s society. The children of today’s society have become so accessible to media content
that comes from cell phones, internet access and television commercials. <- maybe try to make
the transition sentence a little smoother or maybe even add another sentence to help the
transition to the next paragraph.
Censorship is what creates the bounds for indecent language and such things that would
seem immoral to the average human being, but it is only holding on by threads in today’s
world. Personally, I think that censorship is something worth supporting. It keeps the indecent
and obscene material of this world that exists in mass media out of the everyday lives of
everyone.<- expand on everyone, maybe go into some examples of children. Inappropriate
content such as sexual violence should not be allowed on public television.<- shouldn’t it be?
“Sexual conservatism, sex role stereotyping, authoritarianism, age, gender, concern about
pornography's effects, and support for a local anti-pornography campaign were consistently
more highly correlated with support for censoring sexual media than with support for censoring
violent media.”(The Journal of Sex Research, 1994) In this article, it discusses the problem with
sexually violent material in the media, for instance the desensitization of rape victims to this
kind of content being displayed. It only seems right to censor this sort of material that is being
portrayed in mass media.
Censorship is the fence that keeps indecent material out of the everyday lives of
everyone. There are many people all over the world who agree with censorship laws and then
there are those who disagree with them.<- here you could even go as far as to restate your
view on cencorship again. Either way you look at it, eventually you have to pick a side. One
critical argument supporting censorship is the way children view censorship. “The dominant
concern expressed when it comes to questionable material is how it might affect children and
whether it is suitable for the intended audience and age group.”(Children & Libraries, 2012)
This article about what children think about censorship discusses the effects of exposing our
children of this generation to indecency. Children hear and see things on television and then
they want to reenact these things. Things like foul and indecent language is one of the many
things young children here many times, on their family’s television and it’s disturbing to hear
coming from the mouths of kids who can’t even spell their own names let alone the word
censorship. They don’t have the slightest clue what a lot of these indecent words mean, but
they say them anyways because they are growing up and their brains are absorbing more and
more, which is why it would be wrong to fill it with all the wrong things. <- good transition
The world is full of different opinions, for example you have those who really don’t care
about why we have censorship laws, like Howard Stern who is the cause of much frustration
and problems for many broadcasting radio stations over the years. Then you have those people
who would argue against having censorship, claiming that hinders our ability to learn or
become fully educated. Some people believe that because material<- what kind of material in
libraries and on the internet is censored that it reduces the amount of material they could be
learning and hinders what they are supposed to think about rather than what it really is;
obscene. Is it really the best idea to let anyone get on the air and just voice their opinions to the
public without any regard to their audience? One person who is famously known for this is
Howard Stern. Stern is a talk show host who has been banned by several radio stations<- which
stations due to his lack of ability to keep his mouth shut about things that the Federal
Communications Commission has regulated that he cannot say on the air and have raised the
consequences for .<- for What? “The FCC suddenly started fining again. And in Congress,
lawmakers not only proposed raising fines to prohibitive heights but added more: fining
speakers as well as broadcasters.” (Can FCC Shut Howard Up?, 2004)
Censorship laws are already in place to protect the public against some of the obscene
material on some of these mass media technology, but there is still much more inappropriate
material <- what?out there that is so easily accessible from these media devices that needs
censoring. “Schlock jock Howard Stern really shocked listeners last week when he announced
that he's taking his act to satellite radio, becoming the highest-profile radio personality to
defect to the new medium.” (Radio Daze, 2004)<- how does this impact xm listeners? Stern
claims to be tired of plain old basic radio and is converting over to satellite radio which makes
one wonder; is satellite radio full of dirty talk? Apparently Stern wasn’t the only one making this
move. “Schlock jock Howard Stern really shocked listeners last week when he announced that
he's taking his act to satellite radio, becoming the highest-profile radio personality to defect to
the new medium.” (Radio Daze, 2004)
There are several different views on why censorship is good or bad. For instance, the
obscenity factor plays a big role. “Obscenity--which is not protected by the First Amendment--is
sexual material that violates community standards, is patently offensive.” (Can FCC Shut
Howard Up?, 2004). People don’t want to turn on their televisions and see something so
disturbing and absurd that it causes problems with the way people think. "Television today
contains some of the coarsest and most violent programming ever aired.”(Television Quarterly,
2004) Imagine what the media world would be like without the censorship laws that are in
place today. With the amount of indecent material that is available with these laws in place,
you can only wonder what it would be like without them. Would radio broadcasters and
television shows take it to the extreme due to the lack of restrictions on what kind of media is
obscene? Just think for a moment, anyone can find any type of content through cell phone
usage in today’s society so what if such laws that ban indecent material didn’t exist. Some like
to think that it would be outrageous, and unthinkable.<- try to expand on this idea Censorship
is a good thing; however some would argue that it is hindering our learning abilities.
Censorship is necessary in today’s society; in the world we live in anything can be sought
out in a matter of seconds. And the worst part of it is it’s all at our fingertips. At the touch of a
button, we can Google or search for material. Even if you weren’t searching for it, you could run
into obscene content on the internet with ads that just take up most of the things we view on
the web. In today’s world you can’t even log onto Facebook without seeing ads that don’t
pertain to anything that has to do with that website.
The ban on indecency is increasing but apparently not quick enough.<- back up this
sentence with your opinion With the rising number of youth to available media such as cell
phones, internet, television, and computers, it is becoming priority for the FCC to place bigger
censorship regulations on broadcasting TV with unconstitutional context and material. Material
that is intended for a much older more mature audience is being intercepted by our youth with
their available media devices. There are a lot of different types of media that are affected by
censorship such as, television, radio broadcasting, and books. However, there is still a lot of
media that needs censoring. With mass media in full effect in today’s society, with the use of
cell phones and the internet access they have access to, Billboards, and internet
advertisements. So how do we know what can be said and what can’t?
Some people wonder how we know what words are ‘ok’ to say on radio or television.
Well for starters, George Carlin said it best, simply by just saying it loud and clear for the entire
world to hear. “Shitpissfuckcuntcocksuckermotherfuckertits” (Bleeped Deprivation, 2007) was
the compiled up phrase of the seven words that you can’t say on television. This was a comical
version of the truth, because when you hear George Carlin utter this recorded phrase you can’t
help but laugh at it. Just about every one of these words today is still censored on televisions
and radios everywhere because of the indecent and profane vibe that each one gives off when
used. So for society’s sake it is only fair to families and church going youth to be kept in the
dark about profanity such as this, as far as the media’s perspective goes.
It is then left up to the parents and schools responsibility of the importance of what is
censored in homes and schools all over America and the accessibility that is made available to
media and literature that can withhold profanity or indecency; and whether or some of it is
used for educational purposes. <- may want think of combining these sentences
So what about schools? How does censorship affect libraries and textbooks? Turns out
that schools and libraries are left with the responsibility of what is allowed in books and in
libraries or what can be view by internet access. It is up to them what kind of material they
want made available to their students. Most of the time, schools and school districts block a lot
of obscene and indecent material. Occasionally they let a bit of profane language slip by in
books and magazines.<- how do you think they could do their job better?
So what do you think the world around you would look like without censorship? Can you
even begin to imagine what it might look or sound like? Try listening in on one of Howard
Stern’s talk shows and maybe you’ll have some kind of an idea.
Works Cited:
Fisher, Randy D., Ida J. Cook, and Edwin C. Shirkey. "Correlates of Support for Censorship of Sexual,
Sexually Violent, and Violent Media." Correlates of Support for Censorship of Sexual, Sexually
Violent, and Violent Media. (n.d.): n. pag. Tamucc.edu. Web.
Isajlovic-Terry, Natasha, and Lynne McKechnie. "Mary and Jeff Bell Library." Mary and Jeff Bell
Library. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children,
n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2012. <http://rattler.tamucc.edu/>.
Jarvis, Jeff. "Mary and Jeff Bell Library." Mary and Jeff Bell Library. Nation, 17 May 2004. Web. 30
Sept. 2012. <http://rattler.tamucc.edu/>.
Nail, Tack. "Mary and Jeff Bell Library." Mary and Jeff Bell Library. Television Quarterly, 2004. Web.
30 Sept. 2012. <http://rattler.tamucc.edu/>.
Parloff, Roger. "Mary and Jeff Bell Library." Mary and Jeff Bell Library. Fortune, 19 Mar. 2007. Web.
30 Sept. 2012. <http://rattler.tamucc.edu/>.
Stein, Lisa. "Mary and Jeff Bell Library." Mary and Jeff Bell Library. U.S. News & World Report, 18
Oct. 2004. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. <http://rattler.tamucc.edu/>.