Analysis of an Issue - Please rate.
[#permalink]
28 Jul 2011, 08:23
In some countries, television and radio programs are carefully censored for offensive language and behavior. In other countries, there is little or no censorship.
The reach of the television and radio has more than quadrupled in the past decades. This increase includes people from all ages. As the reach of these mediums grow, the more diverse the audience becomes. Today, a three year old kid has the IPad as his toy and if he has the IPad as his toy, he surely knows the way around the remote control.
In certain countries, such as, India, The United Kingdom etc there are a lot of young people who watch the television and listen to the radio from a very young and impressionable age. In countries like these it is necessary for the television and radio programs to be censored.
One must understand that censorship does not mean taking away creative freedom and obstructing the right to speech of any individual, but it is just tagging the content in a way that would help people to be warned before they watch or listen to the piece.
There are many things happening in the world, and the media, today, covers everything -from terror attacks to Page3 parties. Some of the content which is covered might not be suitable for a certain audience. When terror attacks and natural calamities are covered, we see scores and scores of dead bodies on the television. When the tsunami washed the coasts of TamilNadu in 2006, the sights that the news channels showed were horrific. It was nature at its worst. People get disturbed when such things are shown. Specially very old and young people. It might be too dramatic to say, but sometimes these images scar minds for life.
Offensive language is another thing that needs censorship on radio and on television. When television and radio is seen or heard by millions of people who might be of different caste, creed, age and mentality, care has to be taken to not be offensive. This happens most in the case of music, when the tune is catchy, people forget the words and sometimes these words are nothing but foul language. Now we don’t need kids singing songs with foul language at the talent hunt In school, do we?
People look up to the people who come on air. They have the power to make a difference. They have the power to make a difference and with great power comes great responsibility. If the media houses are responsible and sensitive in broadcasting what they broadcast, censor houses are not necessary. There are very few countries where the entertainment and media industry is that responsible. The majority are on the other side, hence censorship is necessary.