Anti News Media Censorship
Essay by 24 • November 1, 2010 • 600 Words (3 Pages) • 1,555 Views
"Anti News Media Censorship"
The best method of informing the public is using television. As a result, the
news is televised. Many believe that it is the job of the news media to report to the
public what is happening in society. Some, on the other hand, claim that the news
media are only interested in increasing their ratings and that they achieve this by
reporting events that are of a violent and outrageous nature. Some people who believe
this also believe that violence in the news has a direct effect on our society. To them
this effect would be influencing people's behavior.
The news media's main goal is to inform the society about world events. Their
task is to notify their viewers of new developments around the world. News
broadcasts generally strive for accuracy in reports. These reports are presented in an
unbiased manner otherwise they would mislead their viewers. It is because the masses
do not wish to be mislead that the viewers expect these qualities. Censorship should
not be imposed upon the news media because the news is merely circulating to society
what is happening right now.
As a result, the news has done nothing but simply display our society on the
big screen. The news is not suggesting to viewers that they conduct themselves in the
manner depicted on the news. "...when the majority of Americans get their
information solely from TV News, there is good reason to be concerned about the
purity and thoroughness of that information..." (Saltzman, USA Today). Lower crime
rates may also indicate that violence in the news does not dictate the people's behavior
and it reinforces the fact that the news is solely informational. "Murder happens. It
happened a lot in Shakespeare," (Drevitch, 1994, p.12)
Contrary to common belief the crime rates for this nation have decreased. Over
the past decades it may appear that the nation's crime rates have steadily increased, but
perhaps this assumption is based on what is broadcasted on television. Due to
improvements in technology the news media has been able to collect information from
a much wider geographical area. Technological advancement has also allowed the
news media to relay information at a real time
...
...