Censorship Freedom Of The Press

1746 Words7 Pages
The press represents the voice of many individuals in the world. Censoring the press would signify the suppression of billions of voices that strive to be heard. Many definitions of press freedom have been provided by different scholars in many different scholarly sources. Dennis and Merrill (1991, p.5) defined freedom of the press as the right to communicate ideas, opinions, and information through the printed world without government restraint. On the other part, Sunwoo Nam and Inhwan Oh (1973, p.74), described freedom of the press as the freedom of the media to engage in the adversary role, being a vigilant and independent watchdog of the government, free to criticize the policies and personnel of the power elite without fear of…show more content…
However, even a dictatorship does not have the power to completely minimize the role of the press. The press is used for the reflection of the dictator’s ideas and rules. Cuba and North Korea are known by many for their irrational restrictions on the press and freedom of expression. However, their approaches used in censorship are rather different with one being more or less severe.
The press in North Korea is among the most suppressed worldwide. The news given to the media to broadcast comes from the official Korean News Agency. The government fully controls the content of North Korea’s newspapers, periodicals, and radio stations. “Korean Central Television is the state-run TV channel seen by North Koreans. The network carries news programs, documentaries, and other programs praising Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung. It also reports on authoritative statements from the North Korean government, party and military. In addition, it carries revolutionary dramas, operas and other entertainment programs” (North Korea 's tightly controlled media).
The information that reaches the public is completely monitored by the country’s leadership. The Internet is highly suppressed, it confines individuals to censored networks that have no connection to a world outside of North Korea. Even though it is unknown how many individuals have access to the Internet, the number is expected to be small given that “the country has only
Get Access
Related
Get Access