Censorship In The Media

Usually, when we think of censorship, we think of books being banned. There is another form of censorship that is just as potent, if not more so. Censorship of the media is very efficient in the way that it stops books or articles from ever being published. This tool has been most effectively used in many ways. This is shown in the book 1984, when there is an entire “Ministry of Truth” that is charged with manipulating the media, deleting every mention of someone who has “disappeared.” Lately, towards Ole Miss University, there has been a court case, Hosty v. Carter which is attempting to turn over the case of Bazaar v. Fortune which forbade censorship of newspapers on the university stage in 1972 (Simmons). Also, in Penn State University, the censorship of the radio was something that is akin to what is going on at Ole Miss University and these court cases. Censorship of the media also opens up a totally new front, disinformation. Disinformation is only allowing the media to print what the government, or owners deem appropriate, or true. For instance, disinformation could be used to keep the public docile and supportive, as in altering war casualties. This was used primarily in closed societies in which the media was government subsidized.

In George Orwell’s 1984 censorship of the media was rampant. However, this was a perfect example of total censorship. George Orwell depicted how the world would be if it was totally run by socialist republics. Also, he depicted how censorship was correctly used. I believe that if someone were to follow his book, and make a city exactly how he described, that this would be perfect and utter slavery. However, the proletarian, or the “proles,” as they are called in his book, are somewhat free, but they live in squalor and ignorance. The “Ministry of Truth,” which the main character works at, is involved in manipulating the media to the government’s wishes. Orwell’s book is largely heralded as being scarily close to what the world would be like if there were total government control.

Censorship in the media is also a problem on the university level and this is a controversial problem in today’s world. The court case that I already mentioned, Hosty v. Carter, is trying to overturn the precedent of Bazaar v. Fortune to allow censorship in universities. I believe that the disruption of information on a university scale is censorship because the vast majority of students are eighteen years or older, and their parents can no longer tell them what they can and cannot be exposed to. The case of Hosty v. Carter has no grounds because I believe a fair precedent has already been set. However, there is a solution to this problem and Penn State University has found the answer in the Daily Collegian. The solution is to have a newspaper that is totally separate from the University and not funded by the University. I believe that this is the only way to totally escape censorship in a University setting. Otherwise, the administration would constantly be looking over the shoulder of the newspaper, offering advice, which would be taken as direction. Also, the Penn State University Radio faced like censorship. A talk show always ran on air that criticized the Penn State administration at almost every turn. After many weeks of this, the University cut the funding to the radio station, and the talk show cried censorship. This is an indirect result of censorship, and another reason why I believe that any media that wishes to broadcast or distribute within a university setting, it needs to find alternate funding. Universities will not tolerate being critiqued by something that is funded by them.

Another form of censorship is disinformation. This is quite possibly the most damaging form. Disinformation is the spreading of wrongful information. For instance, disinformation is inflating the numbers of a war to get the public to rise up and disagree with the war. Also, disinformation allows subterfuge and is constantly used in politics and espionage today. How does this concern us? This concerns us because the information we receive, is not always 100% accurate. This is because that the politicians feel that we do not need to know the absolute truth that they need to shelter us. Some of this is understandable, because we as the public, would panic if we did indeed know the many threats that the United States faces each day. However, sometimes this is taken out of hand. There is a very fine line between what we as a public can and cannot handle. I believe that this is hard to determine, and sometimes is very vague. Therefore, I believe that the government should develop a committee to determine what extent the details would be released.

Censorship in the media is a very serious thing. However, I believe that some censorship is healthy. This is because the population as a whole would panic if they only knew what threats their country was going through daily. Other than the serious news that would send the public into a panic, I believe that every piece of news should be reported and dissected by the public. When our country was created we not only received freedom of speech, we received freedom to know.

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