Emergency and Laws Imposed on Media

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The first amendment to the United State's constitution is one of the most important writings in our short history. The first amendment has defined and shaped our country into what it is today. The amendment has constantly been challenged and ratified through literature, court cases, and our media. In fact, media is driven by the first amendment. Without it, we as citizens wouldn't be able to view or listen to what we want,

Music has a dangerously potent existential force. Individuals dissolve into melodies, beats and rhythms. According to Ban (Ned) In the U.S.A, “sound only exist when it is going out of existence” (Jones). This ability within music becomes threatened through censorship which infringes and hinders artistic expression. Radio stations use censorship to edit explicit music in hopes of preserving adolescent innocence, however; there in no value in radio censorship. The significance of radio censorship is diminished because editing music for radio play is ineffective in blocking the nature of a song, radio stations kill the authenticity of music, and songs lose their integrity.

Since the start of news coverage being exposed on the television during the early 1960s, when the Kennedy versus Nixon, the first ever presidential debate was broadcasted, there has been skepticism on the delivery of the news and whether or not the media sends the correct message that broadcasts to the nation. The media described Nixon as being sweaty and nervous while Kennedy as a strong confident candidate, what the media left was the fact that Nixon had been fighting a sickness and was sweating as a result making him seem like he may be nervous. This demonstrates how the media, depending on their political view, can alter the message they convey. This relates heavily with law enforcement, since the rise of telephones and the ability to record videos, the media has used this tool to show confrontations between law enforcement agencies and individual suspected of crimes. These confrontations have raised flags in some communities and at times have lead to communities revolting and rioting in their towns because the media will use this tool and display images of the confrontation in a manner which demonstrates the law enforcement agency doing something wrong as well as leaving out key information out of the video. Some agencies have created solutions to reduce the problem of media construing the way society views law enforcement, by ways such as

Media was just as ever-changing as the society it was taking place within. During this time, media was just beginning to become a nationwide phenomenon. In May of 1874, the “Imperial Press Law” decreed that there would be freedom of the press. This opened the door not only for more forms of media to be readily available, but also for media to now be interwoven with politics. Newspapers

The First Amendment states that “Congress shall not create laws that abridges the freedom of speech and the freedom of press (Cite).” The freedom of press is a constitutional protected right that allows individuals or media outlets the right to publish information without the government censoring the information or fear of being punished. This protected right is applicable to all forms of printed and broadcasted information, such as newspapers films, or television broadcasting.

America is very fortunate that the media censorship is not as controlling as it is in autocratic countries like, Russia, Iran, or China. These countries control it by eradicating critical news and building state media brands, but we are limited to what the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allows to be broadcasted. I believe that the words we speak and media we are exposed to, should not be censored. Although some supporters of media censorship argue that the government has the right to choose what we see, a closer examination shows that media censorship proves to be unjust because the public should know what is occurring in the world, we're only exposed to half-truths, and hiding the truth hurts the interpretation of reality. Censoring

One media policy issue in particular has been in the news quite a lot recently, and has caught my attention. The bill in question has many Canadians worried about not only their safety and privacy online and in public places, but also what is done with their personal information and how it is being shared, without their consent. In researching (you guessed it) Bill C-51, I became highly interested in finding out if, and how long service providers have been allowed to collect and distribute people’s personal information whether it be free, or for money. I then did some research on the Privacy Act that took effect in 1983 and is still in place in Canada today. On the official website for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada it says

In a world in which acts of heinous violence, murder or crude and shocking behavior seem to be a normal occurrence, it may lead one to wonder what has put society onto this slippery slope. How did this type of behavior come to be so acceptable and in some cases glorifiable? A careful study of society may lead to multi media as being the main cause in this changing of ideals. The modern world has become desensitized to the acts shown on television, movies, video games or printed in newspapers and magazines. Censorship must be employed if morals and decency are to be preserved.

Next, civilization should never allow censorship of the news media. The United States where freedom of speech is a constitutional right censorship of the news media can be attempted. For instance, in the late 70’s, President Richard M. Nixon tries to suppress information about the Watergate break in; and trying to subvert the news media with intimidation.

There are many factors that will influence choice of research topic including; current events in the news, moral panics, phenomena relating to sociological theories e.g., exploitation, misogyny, previous research, the political climate and personal interests.

of press freedom in India freed further the press through the Press Act – 1835.

The media regulation in the U.K. is more extensive compared to the U.S. Ofcom is an independent regulator and competition authority across television, radio etc. The PCC, also an independent body, deals with complaints from members of the public about editorial content of newspaper and magazines. The behavior of media is far more regulated in Britain compared to the U.S. In U.S. the views can complain about the content to individual media outlets but in Britain the complaints are published on various governmental website making it more visible. This means that the impact of government regulation is more evident in British media than in the American media.

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.

The parameters of the term censorship have been changed and manipulated very much over the years. Television and movie ratings have become more lenient against violence and indiscretion because these things are now seen as entertainment. Is this appropriate for our youth? Should children be exposed to these images so early on? How does censorship in the media affect adolescents? Children are the future of our society and need to have some understanding of real world occurrences. Ultimately, censorship can only be determined by the parents. The media cannot filter every bit of controversial images. What rights does the media have in this situation? How are their First Amendment rights applied here? As an aspiring political science

impose "thought control" o n the populous. F o r her, this was t o be