merits and demerits of censorship, and why is it necessary or unnecessary

There are merits and demerits for implementing censorship.

Firstly, the merits of censorship. Censorship removes any source of entertainment, showing strong violence, gore, or even sexual scenes. These scenes may corrupt the young’s mind, affecting their psychological development thus causing them to perform crimes or acts which may harm the society in the future.

Next, the demerits of censorship. Censorship allows the government to sieve out some issues that they deem sensitive, preventing them from being broadcasted, or told to the people. Thus this causes the people to be kept in the dark about some issues that may be linked to various sectors of our country, for example our country’s funds or even the country’s defense.

I personally believe that censorship is important in our country. Censorship removes any programs, music, movies or any other forms of entertainment, that shows too much of violence, gore, “skin”, or anything that affects the psychological development of a child. Without censorship, the younger generation may have easy access to adult movies, or shows, causing them to have a wrong mind set about some issues. For example, a survey in one of the articles given, has stated that teens who spend more time watching sex and violence, are more likely to practice it. Hence, with easy access to uncensored adult movies, the younger generation may have a different mind set, for example to them it would be okay to hit someone in the street, as shown in the show.

Even though people may say it is okay to have no censorship, as parents would be able to teach their child the right values. However I feel that if parents do not have the right values to teach the younger generation, the younger generation will still be affected. With exposure to uncensored entertainment, even the adults are prone to be psychologically affected.

Henceforth I believe that censorship is important, even if it has its cons, like the removal of sensitive topics from the news by the government. Therefore, censorship is a must in our society.

Spilling Blood with Oil in Iraq - the way that the media present what is perceived over what is real

The media usually just provide articles based on a political figure’s opinion on certain issues, without concrete evidence that is really the truth. This affects the views of the readers on the issue, for example, the issue on whether to attack Iraq. With reports on Iraq killing or ill-treating the US prisoners of war, the citizens of USA will feel angry after reading the it, hence they will support the government’s decision on waging a war on Iraq. Therefore a war starts even though the reasons behind it may not be sufficient or real.

I feel that the media is strongly influenced by the ruling political party in the country. The media provides information that is only in favour of maintaining the party’s position as the ruling party, and also those that support the party’s decisions. This may be because of the strong censorship the government placed on the press. Hence things that may ruin the government’s good image will not be reported. Therefore, even though the information provided may not be the truth, the media is still oblige to write it, and announce it to the people.