The debate over the censorship of television has been an increasingly hot topic over the past few years. Some people believe that television has gone too far in terms of showing programs consumed with sex and violence. Others, however, do not believe that television should be censored. Parents are concerned that uncensored television programs will have a negative effect on their children. The concerns boil down to the question, does television imitate real life or does real life imitate television. Strong arguments can be made for both views. So the question is, can we, as a society find a compromise?
Well first, let's consider the purpose of television. Is it for profit, entertainment, or to serve the public? Well in a sense, all of the above are true. The entertainment industry is very lucrative. In early television years, money loss was expected because of the high costs of television sets and because very few people owned them. Today, however, profits have increased due to the expansion of the television industry. The fact that television is entertaining correlates with the industries' desire to gain profit. If a television program is entertaining then more people will watch, and the industry will make more of a profit. Which raises the question, should television be a medium for entertainment only, or should it serve the public good? Public good programs would be programs that would benefit the public/community on various issues. Such programs would include: after school specials, and programs promoting education, community service, the pitfalls of using drugs and excessive alcohol (i.e., MADD, SADD, RADD), environmental aid (recycle, reduce, reuse), and advertisements for places like the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club. Because television has a huge capacity to reach people it is important to make people aware of programs as discussed above. Television executives would not have to necessarily be required to devout an entire program to public good concerns but they could show commercials regarding public good and/or they could discuss communal programs through local news programs.
First I think it is important to distinguish between cable and basic service channels when considering censorship. Basic channels include CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. Because these are the channels that most people have access to then they should be the most heavily censored. Parents are most concerned with what their kids are watching. Children usually have access to the basic channels. This is something that television service providers should keep in mind. Also, cable channels that specifically target children such as Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel, and The Cartoon Network should be censored. However, the vast majority of cable channels do not target children. These channels include SHOWTIME, HBO, CINEMAX, and SUNDANCE. These channels are more geared toward older teens and adults. These channels are not censored nor should they be. These stations usually accompany their programs with a rating ranging from Y (for everyone) to TV-MA (extreme adult conduct). Also, if people wish to watch censored movies then they can watch movies on stations such as USA, FX, the SUPERSTATION, or TNT.
The federal government has passed several laws regarding television censorship. It is an important issue that deserves the government's attention. But how should the government approach a solution? It is pretty obvious that people are pretty opinionated about television censorship and few tend to agree. The best solution seems to be to censor television on an individual basis. In recent years the television industry has developed television sets that include a parental control option (much like the option offered to parents who have kids that use the internet). This way parents can block their children from viewing certain programs and channels. This way is effective because parents can use their OWN discretion to determine what is appropriate for THEIR children to watch.