Television Censorship in the Past and Present Essays -- Exploratory Es

Television Censorship in the Past and Present Typing in the web address "http://www.censorship.com", I begin my search for information regarding the controversial subject. After a few seconds of waiting for the site to load, a black background comes up, with black font displaying the message: "This site is not accessible because it is categorized as: Sex, Violence, Language." I immediately highlight the web address and annoyingly thrash at the delete button on my keyboard and watch it disappear. "Jeez, everything is censored nowadays!" Frustrated, I decide to take a break. I get up from my computer, drop my tired body onto the couch, and turn on the T.V. Once the picture becomes clear, I am greeted by a completely bare behind! The man yells, "You little bitch!" to his friend who has taken his pants, and a roar of laughter comes from the simulated audience on the show. The scenario shocked me, for I had just been restricted from a website because of subject matter closely related to what I was just seeing on the television I sat for a few seconds and thought about the way behavior like that was prohibited from the public eye just soon before. But why was it now being allowed to broadcast over millions of T.V. sets across the country? I realized that censorship itself, and specifically television censorship, has changed immensely through the years. Censorship, or the "prevention of disturbing or painful thoughts or feelings from reaching consciousness except in a disguised form" has been present since the Roman times ("Censorship", "History..."). The original intentions of the widespread act were to supervise the manners and morals of the people. Government officials were to exclude certain topics, groups, or religio... ...ensorship." 02 Oct 2003 17 Mar 2004 <http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/rgcolumns/2003/1002.asp> "History of Censorship." 20 Mar 2004 <http://www.angelfire.com/vt2/UnitedStudents/history.html> Buchanan, Matt. "Ratings, Censorship, and Negative Criteria." 20 Mar 2004 <http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/3765/appropriate2.html> "Televised Censorship." 21 Mar 2004 <http://www.dragg.net/users/vocalofkentucky/multiculture.htm> "Television Censorship." Academic Library. 20 Mar 2004 <http://wwwacademiclibrary.com/view/Music%20and%0Movies/2682.htm> "The Long History of Censorship." Beacon for Freedom of Expression. 20 Mar 2004 <http://www.beaconforfreedom.org/about_project/history.html> "The Shadow of Incipient Censorship: The Creation of the Television Code of 1952." 17 Mar 2004 <http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6558/>