Censorship And The Government During The Cold War

In Goode and Ben-Yehuda's article " The Moral Panic: An Introduction “, the idea of moral panics are explored and what constitutes something being a moral panic. During a moral panic a substantial amount of people must believe that "something" is a threat to their society, the author’s note that moral panics are always about "something". Moral panics have 5 components to them and follow in this order (1) concern or fear: (2) hostility toward the folk devil or perceived threat: (3) a certain level of consensus about the nature of the threat; (4) a disproportion between the concern and the threat and: (5) a degree of volatility, meaning a rise and fall in importance of threat. The idea in the 1920's that alcohol posed a national threat causing

Society is frequently subjected to moral panics when any crime is committed. Humanity repeatedly blows crimes and incidents out of proportion until the entire society is somewhat controlled. Stuart Hall, in his book, ‘Policing the Crisis’ explained that “the media, in conjunction with the bourgeoisie, create moral panics in order to perpetrate fear and maintain control over society, as a whole.” (Hall, 2013, s. 1) Moral panics are created as a hazard and rising threat to shock both society and culture into changing the way it thinks and acts about problems in the real world. In this essay, moral panics will be looked at in detail with a specific interest in the case of James Bulger. There will too, be a focus on the influence the media,

According to Furedi (1994) moral panics arise when society fails to adapt to dramatic social change or modernization. For example, the first moral panics about youth in the 1950s and 1960s coincided with youth becoming a distinctive consumer group with values, norms of behaviour and

During the 50s, at the peak of the Red Scare and McCarthyism, Edward Murrow spoke out against the anti-communist hysteria claiming “no one man can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices”. The scare generated by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy who made false claims on communists occupying the U.S. State Department, sparked communist fears across the nation. McCarthy’s accusations also led to excessive ‘witch-hunts’ where innocent people were accused of being affiliated with communists. In most situations, like the Red Scare, hysteria is fueled by fear, where fear is initiated by a group of people, or sometimes a sole person. However, Murrow emphasizes that hysteria is also fueled by the vulnerability and helplessness of the people who come in contact with fear. When people without power

Censorship within the United States is not only an immoral and "big-brotherly" practice, but also an insult to each and every one of those who call themselves US citizens. Every day, censors attempt to sanitize TV, radio, music, print, and even the Internet. In their infinite wisdom, they deem what should and should not be viewed by John Q. Public. Censors succeed in suppressing our free spirits and restraining our thoughts in virtually every medium.

Moral panic is a fear that grips a large number of people that something is threatening society.

According to previous moral panic research (Cohen 1972; Cohen 2011; Critcher 2003; Hall et al. 1978; Krinsky 2013:1; Lull & Hinerman 1997) a moral panic may be defined as a widespread incident often triggered by alarming media stories and reinforced by reactive laws and public policy, of exaggerated or misdirected public concern, anxiety, fear, or anger over a perceived threat to social order. Additionally, other studies on moral panic (Critcher 2003; Goode & Ben-Yehuda 2009; Ungar 2001) have shown that social panics arise because of a socially perceived or real threat to certain taken for granted ideologies, values and interests. Evidently, there can be many interpretations of what can constitute a moral panic and that is why Critcher (2003) illustrates that moral panic discourse has developed rather divergent meanings in British and American

The media could be determined a tremendous and powerful weapon. If used properly, it can provide society with great benefits, but if used in negative ways, it can destroy. In a modern world where information can spread as fast as wildfires, a reason to monitor or limit types of media appear rational, but along with that, irrational cases still exist. This argument has circled in the United States for a while and a decision needs to be made. Parents and citizens around the United States think concerningly about what our eyes witness on the news, in stores, on billboards, etc. When the government determines what appears in the media, it not only belittles citizens, but it denies the First Amendment, which states the basic rights of an American. Censorship of the media, as displayed in 1984, clearly exhibits the violation of the First Amendment, rightfully given to the citizens of the United States, by the founding fathers of this country.

It is easy to look back at the mid-twentieth century, and chalk up their moral “panics” to closeminded attitudes or just plain ignorance. Assuming this, however, is ignorant in itself. There are numerous societal factors that influence and encourage these moral panics regarding numerous issues, such as: alcohol use, sex work, and homosexuality. These societal factors include maintaining and reinforcing social hierarchy, increasing the power of the federal government, and establishing the “otherness” as well as the “right” between individuals.

Censorship, which is often described as the destruction of free speech, generally encompasses the altering or deleting information in a message or communication between the sender and receiver, often without their notice or consent. On the other hand, free speech, is defined as “the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint”. These two concepts which contradict one another often cause disagreements, especially over finding a balance between the two. There are many different forms of censorship. Some forms might completely and utterly change the original message, while some forms might be just simply hiding the actual truth. Though balancing free speech and censorship is difficult, allowing the destruction of information is no different from the form of censorship that was the job of Winston Smith in the dystopian community of 1984.

The articles I found related to the book because they were all about government censorship. For example, the one about Russia banning certain internet memes connected to the text in many ways. Books are banned in the novel because they promote ideas that the government does not want people to be exposed to. Russia banned memes making fun of authorities like Putin because they could encourage ideas that the Russian government does not want people to think, such as the idea that Putin is a bad president. A lot of the articles relate to the book because they do not want the people to see things that put the government in a bad light. For example, China banned the search result “Steamed bun Xi” because there was a protest group against the Chinese official after he was photographed eating steamed buns at a local restaurant.

In the article, “Moral Panics: Culture, Politics, and Social Construction” by Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda, the authors explore the meanings behind moral panics, what contributing factors ignite the panics, who or what may be the cause of moral panics and so forth all while with providing interesting examples. They also propose five criterias that goes into defining moral panics which are; concern, hostility, consensus, dispositionality and volatility. Concern is regarding a measurable or manifested heightened level of

Moral panics have been a topic of interest by those who are concerned with criminal and deviant behavior for many years. The term first appeared in criminology in a book written by Stan Cohen, in 1972 and involved a general misinterpretation of the situation, with an exaggerated reaction to a perceived threat, when the actual threat that is being offered (Cohen, S., 1972) (Walters, R., & Bradley, T., 2005). This essay will attempt to explore this concept in further detail, with regards to the literatures findings and explanations of the motives, processes and finer details of a moral panic. It will then explain the media’s role in perpetuating the cycle that is involved with a moral panic. This will include the justification that is used by those in media roles, and the “melodrama” (Anker 2005) (Wright, S., 2015) that is often used in the reports of the issues that give rise to the panics. Lastly, the outcomes of the media’s influential role in the process will be examined through the literature, and also through examples of moral panics in recent settings. This will hopefully provide an overall understanding of the development, perpetuation, and lasting effects that are involved in a moral panic.

Censoring any information from your people is tricking them and taking away there born rights. Everyone should be entitled to there own prospective altering information that the public is going to be viewing is unfair. Your cant protect them from anything they can handle themselves it is wrong to act as if your a larger role in someone's life that you are really not. Censoring leads country's to destroying themselves inside out. Censoring is pointless and is not right under no circumstances, and no one but the people should determine what is censored. Russia is a country that has forever had restrictions on their people because of their insecurities, their grip on political art shows why censoring is useless and needs to be stopped. Not letting

Moral panics take place when the media outlets take a fairly ordinary event and turn it extraordinary. Cohen states that in a moral panic the media identifies a particular group as a folk devil (1972). Essentially folk devils can be identified as a threat to society's values. This is see when the media presents the group in a negative stereotypical fashion and again exaggerate the scale of the problem. Moral panics have three distinguishing characteristics. In Bonn’s article, Who Benefits From Public Fear, he states that one characteristic of moral panic includes a focused attention, whether real or imagined, of certain individuals or groups that are transformed into what Cohen referred to as “folk devils” by the mass media (2015). Additionally there is a noticeable gap between the concern and object risk poses. Typically this threat is less than generally perceived because of how the media outlets represent the threat. The level of concern over time fluctuates greatly. The usual pattern begins with the introduction of the threat, followed by an increase rise and then peak in public concern, which then therefore, and regularly unexpectedly, dies down. _________________________