Censorship and the Watershed

censorship and why is it necessary

• Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable,harmful or sensitive.
• It is necessary because if certain things weren't censored then people could copy what they see on TV especially children.

role of the watershed

• The 9pm watershed was designed to protect children from viewing unsuitable material, such as sex and/or violence.
• It also considers the consequences of such acts.If there is mild violence that has no severe consequence then that programme is allowed before 9pm.
• The internet is unregulated which means that it is not controlled/supervised by regulations or laws.

history of the watershed

• Mary Whitehouse was a self appointed crusader against sex, violence and bad language so she set up a Clean Up TV Campaign in 1964.
• She complained of the increasing violence,bad language and indecency she saw on TV,which led to creating a 9pm watershed so that people could watch things more appropriate for their age.
• She became the first General Secretary of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association in 1965.

for censorship and watershed

• Censorship protects children from viewing acts they are not ready for and can also stop them from copying some role models on TV. (SLT)
• An incident which can show why censorship and watersheds are necessary,is the murder of James Bulger. Two kids named Jon Venables and Robert Thompson applied what they saw in a scene in the movie Chucky (which was rated 18) to James Bulger.

against censorship and watershed

• Censorship restricts people’s freedom to choose what they want to watch. In a free country people feel that they should be able to monitor themselves.
• If in Britain there are fewer violent acts per hour on TV then the watershed might not be necessary. However, any violent acts might be important and also the research method (content analysis) can be affected.

who controls the watershed,should it be them?

• The watershed is controlled by the government.Different types of governments might want stronger censorship.
• Governments that are paternalistic(taking a 'father' role-thinking they know best for the society) or authoritarian(taking decisions and imposing them) are more likely to favour censorship.
• In my opinion,i think the government should not be in control of the watershed because the society should be in control of what they want to watch not the government.

is censorship and the watershed effective?

• Most adults and children agree with having the 9 o’clock watershed. This backs up the idea that censorship and the watershed are there in response to protect society.

what uk feels about the regulation of TV programmes

• Research from 18 workshops carried out by ITV and BBC show that 95% of adults and 72% of children agree to keep the watershed in place to protect children from unsuitable material.
• Most people were concerned about children between 8-12 years old because before the age of 8,parents were able to control what children watched and after the age of 12 children were thought to be more able to make judgements for themselves.

how is the research conducted for censorship done?

• Censorship relies on the proof of the social learning theory (SLT).
• Studies have suggested that children and adults learn through observing role models.However,research methods have been criticised and there are many factors that affect behaviour.
• This is not a good way of conducting research for censorship because observing media role models is only one possible cause of violence.

thank you for watching!