Censorship of Television Network News

The censorship of the news media on traditional television and cable news networks is an important and politicized issue. People all around the country are keeping informed on issues using television and cable news networks based on cultures, viewpoints, and beliefs. The issue of news reporting on these different media outlets raises questions about restrictions on the news media. The primary question on this topic raises is should restrictions be placed on the news media outlets. If this is the case why would censorship - aka the suppression of speech - be a good thing in a democratic society.

To explore the relationship between news media outlets and differing viewpoints and cultures, this essay will begin with a look at news media outlets across countries and cultures. The relationship between these outlets are discussed then turn to a discussion of media censorship, particularly how it relates to news media on TV. This research paper will conclude with a summary of the discoveries and an analysis of the research.

Various news media outlets on television readily available in different formats across the country. Viewership of the TV news media is usually decided within the household based on culture and values and not by outside agencies. The result is that news media formats on television is common in some parts of the world but uncommon in others. In the United States, restrictions on television news media are usually not too strong and generally related to violent content or images considered to be obscene. A good example of this was the news reporting done on 9/11. Millions of viewers had images of the planes flying into the World Trade Center Buildings on all the broadcast news outlets. In other places in the world, China and the countries of Asia in particular, the restrictions are stronger on news outlets in regard to the content of what is broadcast and considered to be too political. Reporting news on things political, violence, and information on television varies by the news broadcasters around the country and depends on different attitudes that a particular outlet views as the format that the majority of viewers will choose to watch. Competing beliefs are that the reporting of violence on television is a factor that makes people violent and desensitizes people to violence in general. Children in particular are seen as prone to excessive violence and a common viewpoint is that children should be sheltered from violent TV news reporting. Because of this viewpoint there is a form of censorship of television news media, usually this censorship is done by the networks themselves, but there are laws that provide the guidelines of this censorship as well.

The question is should restrictions be placed on the media like television. If this is the case then is media censorship necessary. Censorship is the suppression of speech and is generally thought of as something that is negative. Because television is