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Censorship in Television Shows in the World Curtails Freedom to Information

Censorship of the television shows entails the government having control of the content that is broadcasted in the televisions through observation of the shows and the main elements Q the content to be broadcasted before it makes appearance in the shows. It is a issue that freedom of the media and television shows is necessary for any country that is keen ie.

ensuring stability and focus on issues that affect the people rather than the interests of the media only. Television shows are supposed to be free to enable the political players to raise their issues to the people and make people aware of their rights. In these contexts, researchers have cast an eye in the various countries that have imposed laws that affect the media and television shows. Top in this line is the research that has been conducted in countries like South Africa, China,

Iran, and German station of CBC. This essay focuses on the propositions and oppositions that have been aired in support or against the censorship of television shows for various reasons. hesis

Controversially, there has been support by policy makers to have censorship of the television shows in the country in_ order to make sure that the content that is aired does not contain information,that-may promote ar among the people. In 1992, the courts allowed censorship of the CBC prograìns in German in order to get the Senate hearings and witch hunt by huh 9 politicians off the civilian eyes. It that some of the television shows aired by the station in the post-World War Two were unnecessary and contained cultures that could lead to insecurity among the citizens. The famous CBC Ombudsman report where reporters and the politicians engaged in itch hunts r quired censorshi for the interests of the public. The o ukAk 'as .

production had flaws that were unnecessarily aired and thus the company should not have allowed such productions and dry reports to be aired (Sonne d Fassihi l). In addition to airing of contents that were filled with propagandist information, the television showsžwere found to be highly immoral among the people in the country. Exposure of information that i4 not good for the people is an act that the media owners cannot claim to be an expression of information freedom and thus, there are suggestiohs that the government should continually engage the media in order to enforce the laws of responsible behavior in media houses(Writer, BOB

REMINGTON Journal staff).

Freedom of speech is more rooted in the modern Western democracies with the issue

regarding freedom of speech and opinion being embedded in the constitution. In this view, any

move by the government to control the media throu restrictions of the information that is usually televised meet objections and forces the media to legally act in order to secure their freedom. In this perspective, there is a long debate among the policy makers on the essence behind giving the media too much freedom that enables them to act against the government. Sometimes, it is the content and meaning that is included in the television shows that trigger the

debate as some broadcasters use the opportunity to air their views and opinions with a hidden

agenda of either shooting down the leaders or other politicalgames. In addition to this, the leaders from both sides of politics use the television shows to gain mileage or attack one another. In this view, it is paramount to have laws that allow a certain level of censorship to control the content that is in the media(Sonne and Fassihi 36).

The restrictions that are in Beijing for online streamers is aimed at making sure that the Western values do not stream in the as people focus on American shows.The

Chinese government and society is always very keen to make sure that their culture is not swept awayby the ever-increasing influence by the western culture. The constitution of China is, however, categorical that all the people have rights to speech and opinion though the government is always keen to ensure that the media does not exaggerate the usage of the freedom. Understandably, China forces all the information that is published in the media to be from official sources and be vetted by the government authorities to make sure that it is allowed content. This has ensured that the media does not use the clauses in the constitution to make vulgar content or have their shows have explicit information that may affect the stability of the country or shift the support of the people. There has been a new policy that affects the distribution of the information over the internet. This is necessary since the online broadcasters may engage the people in the country by making sure that the online broadcasters do not prevent the government from controlling its citizenry (White 1).

In Iran, censorship of the television shows may make the country's citizens unable toget

information from the media. The media has grown in leaps as it enables people to access information on leaders and leadership online. Since 2005, the government initiated a series of attacks on bloggers and internet activists who opposed the regime with many activists facing life imprisonments and other prosecutions. Many have been harassed and injured by the police as they enforce the laws requiring that the internet users do not violate the internet or use it as an opposition tool against the government. The government jammed many television shows, and this affected the way people receive information. Iranian government has also established an oversight body for the internet in order to enforce the laws requiring people to avoid some sites. The main information that gets blocked by the firewall includes mainly political sites and adult content sites. The reaction of the opponents of the regime has been effectively silenced as they used various websites to interact and reach the outside world, a move that the people saw as selfinjurious and aimed at making sure that the information that people share is authenticated. For instance, the government has made sure that the people do not have access to websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. This has been done with an aim of enforcing the laws regarding these websites as platforms that people use in order to propagate propaganda. However, the government has been using its powers with an aim Qf.protec_ting thexegimeand

leaders, and this explicitly cuts.people'sright to information (Writer, BOB REMINGTON

Journal Staff 1).

In other circumstances, censorship is used make sure that the people does not have their rights as they will not get support from the viewers. For instance in South Africa, there hasbeen censorship to make sure thatjournalists do not cover the issues that were there in.. ow_eto.-

Censorship of the media has strong roots in South Africa and has for some time now attracted huge and great interests of the people since it has denied people their rights for expression and to be heard. People are supposed to use the media to enable them highlight the main issues in their society. However, the government for a long time has forcefully prevented the media from broadcasting a lot of information from some areas that are thought to be a bad picture such as Soweto slums. This idea of preventing the media to focus on the plight of some people in the

country is unnecessary since it prevents activists from advocating help and attention on these people. In this view, the human rights of people in Soweto have for a long time being denied as people could not la-low any information of these areas. In other incidences, the police have been instrumental in making sure that people do not have access to the information by preventing the journalists from accessing the areas. (Lescaze 1).

The two main issues that make government to censor television shows are thepoli.tical

interests of leaders and the aim- to make_sure that some issues in the public domain are not

covered. This contributes to the main conflict between the media players and the government. It continues to be an issue in the modern world even with the democratic rights that are provided for in the constitution advocating freedom of speech and information.

Works Cited

Lescaze, Lee. "Following the Rules: Television Journalists In South Africa Face Daunting

Restrictions --- Trips With NBC Crews Show Self-Censorship in Action; Is Result Better Stories? --- How to Act When Arrested. " Wall Street Journal (2010): 1.

Sonne, Paul and Farnaz Fassihi. "Censorship Inc.: In Skies Over Iran, a Battle For Control of

Satellite TV." Wall Street Journal, (2011): 1.

White, Cameron. "Love and Aliens in the Time of Censorship; New Internet guidelines for China could be a tactical misstep by Beijing." Wall Street Journal (2014): n/a.

Writer, BOB REMINGTON Journal Staff. "The year of TV censorship; Senate hearings, court

ban shifted television drama off-screen in 92: [Final Edition]." Edmonton Journal

(2014).