Ying+Kwan+Hui

**Freedom or Censored in Media** The purpose of the media is to inform and entertain. The viewers trust that the information they receive is real and up to date. The shows are expected to be exciting and interesting. The news is broadcasted at 6 o’clock and 11 o’clock whereas the rest of the air time is allocated for entertainment shows. In a day, only two hours are dedicated to the news and this is not enough to cover all the events in the world. On the other hand, news has to also be entertaining to the reader; and news about super stars, which captures people’s attention, is a very good example. This makes the celebrities feel unsafe because they are losing the own privacy. However, the worst thing that can be happened is when the editors use pieces of information and make up the whole story and eventually become rumours. In addition, not factual news would affect the person who is involved especially when news is expected to be true all the time; consequently, it creates a negative effect. Furthermore, media is limited in what they are allowed to report. Factors such as news structure, political bias and investors interest, limited the freedom of the media.

The structure of television shows, including news is limited by the value of the content and time. The media do not simply report events which are newsworthy. The news, which is the daily report of the world events to the public, is “the end-product of a complex process which begins with systematic sorting and selecting of events and topics according to a socially constructed set of categories” 1 (Fowler 12). This means that the journalists are limited by the editor and what they deem as newsworthy that day. Furthermore, the reports have to socially acceptable. The criteria, which is referred to by students of the media as ‘news values’, include frequency, meaningfulness, continuity and reference to something negative, etc. These ‘news values’ are used by the reporters to select the topics to present in the one hour newscast. In addition, time constraint is another problem for the media. “Because the news is a program like any other, it must fit within the broadcast schedule in its allotted time period. Therefore, each item on its agenda must be timed and slotted into the overall rhythm of the show. Reality, of course, is not so neat” 2 (Nelson 100). Since, the editors do not have enough time for all the news in a day; they are forced to be selective. Although a journalist can research any story, the time and the structure of the media, determine if it will be publish.

Political and economic factors have a larger part in the content selection of the news. In the communist countries, such as China and North Korea, the press is not always allowed to report everything, especially when it comes to politics. Everything the media reports basically have to be proven as there is nothing bad about their country. It is because the communist government put restriction on their news reports. For example, in 1989, university students in China began a democratic revolution that lasted for several weeks. On June 4th, the military was brought in to Tiananmen Square and many students were killed. The Chinese media however was not allowed to report exact details, particularly the number of deaths. Michael Schudson reports that,

After Tiananmen Square, the government tightened controls on the media, closed down three leading publications whose coverage it judged too sympathetic to the protesters, replaced editors at the other newspapers, and required all news organizations to engage in self-criticism. 3 (Schudson 179)

Since the Chinese media is owed by the government, it does not have the freedom to report like the media in liberal countries. Even today, the news in China continues to be censored. In North America majority of the media companies are privately owned rather than publicly, but they are not always free to report all the news.

The investors who own the highest percentage of shares, have the most influence on the decision making process. These days, a car company can also own a financial company. This crossing over of industries is making it difficult for the media to report the news. For example, in television, profit is made from the selling of on the air advertising time. Therefore, most of the time, no negative news will be presented against their investors. If one reports against them, they risk losing the profits. In 1998, an incident happened and this conflict of interest led to the dismissal of two Fox employees. In fact, they were both fired because they were not willing to report false information about “Monsanto's controversial genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone” 4 ( Cummins http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/fox.html ). However, there is no freedom of press in this case as it is an act that allows the publisher to tell us what is actually going on in the society. Since Monsanto is a powerful company, they were able to persuade Fox TV to stop this report from airing. Furthermore, the television network representative states that, “We (the Fox TV network) paid $3 billion for these television stations. We will decide what the news is. The news is what we tell you it is.” 5 ( Cummins http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/fox.htm). In the end, it all comes down to profit. If Fox have aired the report, Monsanto would have lost profit and sue Fox. Therefore, there is no freedom of the media and the reporters are limited in what they can broadcast, because of the control of the investors.

People expect the news is accurate because the purpose of the news is telling the viewer about the truths. Therefore, whatever the news says must be the facts. In March 2003, the President of the United States, George W. Bush stated “the possibility that Saddam Hussein still sought nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in defiance of United Nations restrictions and sanctions” 6 (Lee http:topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html). Even though the news reported about the U.S was going to declare a war to Iraq because of that, there is no actual proof at all that Bush was positive about the judge. However, many countries were supporting the U.S because they were threatened from what happened in the 911 attacks in 2001. Nobody wants another terrorist attack to happen again, so they think the war between Iraq and the U.S is necessary. As a result, there is no evidence of Saddam creating nuclear, biological and chemical weapons to prove and support Bush was correct in the first place and the report in the news.

Media is not really free and it has censored information before it publishes. The factors of limitation, such as media structure, political bias and invertors’ interest, limited the freedom of the press. The editors are forced to be selective following the ‘news values’, since they do not have enough time for all the news in a day. Although a journalist is free to research on any topic, the time and the structure of media, establish the final publish. Therefore, not all of the news is indeed true and trustable. Moreover, a larger part of content selection of the news is political and economy. In the communist countries, the news is not always allowed to report about politics which is not freedom in media as liberal countries. Also, there is no liberty of the press and the journalists are limited in what they can put on air, because of the control of the investors. It is unfair to the viewers because of the limitation, public are not free to know all the issues around the world. 

__Works Cited__

Cummins, Ronnie. “Monsanto and Fox TV Unite to Suppress Journalists' Free Speech”, In Motion Magazine, April 28, 1998, http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/fox.html.  Fowler, Roger. __Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press__, (London: Routledge, 1991). p.12  Nelson, Joyce. “The Prefect Machine: TV in the Nuclear Age”(Between the Lines, 1987), p. 100  Schudson, Michael. “The Sociology of News Production Revisited (Again)”, __Mass Media and Society,__ ed., James Curran & Michael Gurevitch,3rd Ed., (London: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 179   Steven Lee, “Iraq-Preparation and Invasion”, __The New York Times__, January 30, 2009 http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html



1  Fowler, Roger. __Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press__<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, (London: Routledge, 1991). p.12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Nelson, Joyce. “The Prefect Machine: TV in the Nuclear Age”(Between the Lines, 1987), p. 100 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Schudson, Michael. “The Sociology of News Production Revisited (Again)”, __Mass Media and Society,__<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> ed., James Curran & Michael Gurevitch,3rd Ed., (London: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 179 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cummins, Ronnie. “Monsanto and Fox TV Unite to Suppress Journalists' Free Speech”, In Motion Magazine, April 28, 1998, <span class="wiki_link_ext">http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/fox.html. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cummins, Ronnie. “Monsanto and Fox TV Unite to Suppress Journalists' Free Speech”, In Motion Magazine, April 28, 1998, <span class="wiki_link_ext">http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/fox.html. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Steven Lee, “Iraq-Preparation and Invasion”, __The New York Times__<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, January 30, 2009, <span class="wiki_link_ext">http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html