AWA – Issue #1
In some countries, television and radio programs are carefully censored for offensive language and behavior. In other countries, there is little or no censorship.
In your view, to what extent should government or any other group be able to censor television or radio programs? Explain, giving relevant reasons and/or examples to support your position.
The issue regarding the extent to which television and radio programs are censored is a debatable one. On the one hand, there are countries/groups that completely censor any kind of offensive language and behavior or even more. On the other hand some countries have permitted the use of freedom of speech to such an extent that there is little or no censorship. In my belief, there has to be calculated amount of censorship which does not breach the freedom of speech nor allow negative elements to portray their views in an ugly and vulgar fashion.
Primary reason for my belief is that media plays a very important medium for spreading knowledge, information and facts. There are many people who watch or hear these shows and are radically influenced by these thoughts. Talking ill of any religion, taking undemocartic stance in politics and staging mockery of world leaders have been known to create unrest among people and societies. If such messages continue to be shown verbatim, soon the world could be on the verge of a war. At the same time, inportant facts have to be shown to the public so as to enable them to have logical viewpoints about their own world.
Secondly, these mediums are becoming more and more accessible to children. TV and radio are the most important form of entertainment today. If there is too much violence shown in television, it can influence the soft malleable minds of children very easily. For eg. it has become very common to hear about children carrying guns to school nowadays. In fact, in some instances they have used the firearm to fatally injure fellow students and teachers. Where is it all stemming from? I believe that it is the result of all the violent movies that are telecast on TVs. Similarly, more and more adolescents are becoming pregnant before marriage and are falling under the influence of drugs. Aren’t the dirty and vulgar soap operas, movies the cause of all this? Yes, they are.
Lastly, I feel that such mediums are right now in the hands of such people who will show and telecast anything to make as much money they want. These people play on the sensitive side of the human mind by showing them programs that influence the common mass in a very negative manner. The reality shows, for eg., that show all kinds of inexplicable things, that make immense use of offensive language have started to make people think and act differently. People everywhere have changed their vocabulary to match the dirty language spoken on these shows. This gives them a feeling of being ‘cool’.
My strong belief is that even though these programs cannot be eliminated completely, there should be some mechanism to restrict their access. Either it should be made costly to procure such materials or there should be a way to control their viewership. Various rating systems have to be developed and enforced strictly to ensure such materials do not fall into the hands of children. Parents also, along with the censorship authorities, have to take strict action to prevent their children from getting exposed to such offensive material. Hence, on the basis of these explanations, I strongly believe that a middle path should be taken in this argument and there should be some form of calculated censorship.
