“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 pace and obtain better coverage of all

crimes that occur throughout the nation. Although the news may be reporting crimes it

does not necessarily mean that crime is on the rise. According to the latest figures from

the FBI, crime rates have continued to drop for the eighth straight year in the United States.


     The news should not be censored simply because it contains violent images.

Some people propose that since these images are graphic in nature, they may have an

adverse effect on a small part the population. This is not a valid justification for such a

drastic move. If this is the case, then should all things that have bad effects on the

public be done away with? People should think carefully about matters concerning

censorship as they personify a much larger issue, the First Amendment. Freedom of

speech is a right guaranteed to the citizens of the United States and with it's

elimination the decline of democracy is sure to follow. (528)



     
Works Cited Page



1. Callahan, Sidney. "What we see, we do: Violence & the media." Commonweal.

Jan 1996.

2. Drevitch, Gary. "Murder, she saw." Scholastic Update (Teachers' Edition).Feb

1994.

3. SecurityWorld.Com “Crime Rates Dropping Again” Online

http://www.securityworld.com/community/hottopics/crimerates.html

4.     Saltzman, Joe . "New media owners, same old problems." USA Today. Nov.

1995: 31.