Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Media - Essay Example These can be inappropriate and offensive information. Since the media plays an important role in informing society, it is necessary to review the information let out. This is on an effort to reduce propaganda, violence and cases related to false media reports. This paper seeks to discuss the violence portrayed by the media, the impact and censorship of the media. The paper also discusses a viable solution to the problem of violence in the media. It is a common case of children trying to imitate what they have seen on the television in reality. The children are the most vulnerable group to thee violence depicted in the television. In one instance, after viewing a movie on the television, a teen-aged boy and his fellows went ahead to lie down along the centerline of the highway. These teenagers were imitating a scene from a movie they had previously watched. This prompted touchstone pictures to remove the scene from the movie since it had caused fatalities. This tragedy is one among ma ny others that children view violent material in the television and try to emulate. In another instance in Ohio, a child set his parents’ house on fire resulting to the death of her sister who was trapped in the house. A program in MTV, Beavis and Butthead, prompted this act. Austin Messner a five year old is a victim of the free media. Media to some aspects does not make considerations before airing some programs. Although MTV did not claim responsibility to this tragedy, they restructured their program schedule and Beavis and Butthead was put on a late night slot. From these examples is that human beings are passive and are easily influenced by what they see. On another perspective is that people have different shared experiences and will think and react in the same way. This informs that common concept that television viewing is a way of knowing the self and the people around the self. Censorship, therefore, is an important issue and it should be upheld in every societies. Clearly, it is only through censorship that the young, vulnerable and innocent are protected (Cottle, 2011). This is based on the premise that most people do not know what is good or bad content. The society has shaped certain norms that many come to agree with, but in the real sense, they are detrimental. There is too much violent and explicit content in the media today, but people ignore this and do not consider the long-term effect this can have to the society. There also exist the dilemma of differentiating between fantasy and the true reality. This pollutes the minds of the viewer and eventually they emulate what they see on the media content. The media has been linked to developing violence in the society. Studies, however, prove that there is no direct link between violence in the society and the media (Cottle, 2011). A number of studies propose that TV violence does not encourage violence in children. From these studies, it is quite clear that the relationship between viole nce and the media is null and void. However, censorship goes beyond the freedom of choice. It does not allow people to view what they want and develop their personal judgments. Violence or the weird behaviors children develop should be blamed on the parents (Ho?chli, 2010). In a child’s life, the parents are the role models and the light. They should guide the child from wrong at all times. For the case of Austin Messner, the blame cannot be put on the media, but the parents themselves. When it