Research into Censorship

Research into Censorship

Censorship is the altering and suppression of media which could be seen as offensive to viewers. This could be used during films, plays, television, music channels, radio and news reports. An example of this could be, the company would decide whether or not the media shown is unacceptable for a particular viewer to watch, most likely younger children to protect them from content which may not be appropriate for them to see or hear. Censorship is commonly used before watershed, which is before 9pm as most children are most likely not to be in bed, asleep at this time, so they could still be open to hearing or seeing content which they should not such as drugs, alcohol and nudity. However, after 9pm most children are expected to be in bed, asleep, so censorship is not commonly used after this time.

Ofcom is the UK authority for the media and communication industry. It censors behavior that is threatening, abusive and insulting which are most likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress people, breaching peace. Ofcom aims to censor during films, plays, television, music channels, radio and news reports. Along with deciding which time is acceptable for censoring, which is before 9pm, known as watershed. Ofcom have found that the majority of parents have found that their children have been exposed to explicit content in which they are not happy with their child watching, this contained drugs, alcohol, sexually explicit content, violence and explicit language.

One music video in which I have researched based on censorship is Rihanna's "We Found Love" music video. The video had to be censored before watershed for a number of reasons. The video contained behavior such as smoking, drinking alcohol, drug use, nudity and violence. The video was deemed inappropriate as the music video is most likely to engage a younger target audience, and this may encourage and provoke the behavior in the music video from the audience.


Artist - Rihanna

Rihanna believes that her music videos should not be censored. She has this strong belief for a number of different reasons. She firstly believes that her music videos enable her to express her personality through not only her lyrics but the way in which she displays her music, through her videos. She believes that it should not be offensive to express your own individual personality, and always hopes that it is not taken in the wrong way, or possibly offensively to her audience. Rihanna understands that some viewers may find nudity inappropriate in her music videos, and sometimes is not completely necessary; however her own, personal opinion on the matter that nudity is natural, and allows people to feel free. She also claims that it promotes self confidence to all women, which they shouldn't be ashamed of their bodies, considering herself a role model towards both younger and older women. Rihanna believes that by creating extravagant music videos, this creates a hysteria as many people will talk about the stunts and explicit scenes within her videos. This is something she claims many artists also do. As ultimately it results in more views and more sales of the music video as she has created something memorable by extreme actions. Lastly, Rihanna also states that she is merely growing up with her audience, she is bringing light and attention to real life situations which her audience will sooner or later discover. Rihanna believes that she is her own person, and should not have to follow what any body wants her to do, or listen to what others think. She states that everybody is an individual, and like her has the decision to follow what they please. Therefore, people that disagree with her actions, do not have to follow them.

Record Label

Rihanna is signed to the record label "Rock Label" which is a well established, highly profiting record labels focusing mainly with artists in the RnB and Hip Hop genre. Like Rihanna, Rock Label, record label also believe that music videos should not be censored. The record label company believe that with the artist music being censored, this does not allow the song to show its full potential as it isn't given justice, being allowed to play the full song. The record label also believe that with songs being censored more frequently, music will become very similar and will not appeal to varied audiences. They also believe that without censorship, the music will target a broad, varied target audience which overall means that they will then gain a higher profit. Additional to this, along the basis of profit for the record label, the more extravagant and controversial the music video, many more people will talk about the video and share, creating a hysteria. This then leads to an increased profit for the label, so it is understandable why they are against censorship. Rihannas record label support Rihanna's decision and lifestyle that she has created, and believe the content in which she chooses to show in her music video should not be censored as her extravagance and outgoing nature has made her the artist she is today, and the reason she is idolized by so many, so would not want to strip the artist of this of this trait.

Parents for Censorship

Ofcom, the censorship regulator carried out a study on 1000 parents. This research has proved that the majority of parents believe that children should not be exposed to videos like Rihannas and the content which is included in them, this includes activities such as drinking alcohol, taking drugs, gambling, sexual content and nudity. One reason which parents are for censorship is they believe that children are young and innocent, and should not be exposed to content like this as it may encourage a younger child to copy these actions and may believe that what they are doing isn't anything wrong. Another reason for parents for censorship is due to artists such as Miley Cyrus. Children have grown up watching the star on television programmes such as "Hannah Montana" they may potentially recognize the artist, watching one of her videos, and as they idolize her from the programme believe that her actions in her music videos as Miley Cyrus are acceptable. It is a fair argument in which parents believe that artists should be recognize for their pure talent, and not the way they act in their music videos. An artist should be idolized for their sound and music, not for their extravagant activities in music videos to boost ratings and increase profit. They often question why are many artists known for their stunts and out of control behavior, and will artists ever be known for their talent, like Whitney Huston or Eva Cassidy. It is also argued by parents that is the increase in crime due to the technological development which makes it easy for children to access music videos which show bad behavior positively and to make it seem like fun.

Parents against Censorship

Some parents are against censorship. There are many reasons for this view point, for example censorship is controversial as the music video in question by Rihanna "We Found Love" has over 4 million views on YouTube, so therefore the fans must enjoy watching the video as they wouldn't have watched it over this many times. Furthermore, some parents believe that after the age of 10 you are responsible for your own actions, this is because you have criminal liability for yourself and could have imprisonment if you are to commit a crime.  Therefore, it is believed that a child as young as this should have the correct morals and self guidance in order not to copy this behavior and it is simply acting for a music video. Parents also believe that censorship is not a positive thing for artists music videos as this does not allow them to express themselves and get across a point they are trying to express. By doing this, we do not get to see the artist express their personality, which is contradicting because as parents it is always encouraged to "be yourself" this is why some parents agree, as this is a good lesson to teach their children. Feminists believe that not having censored music videos is a good thing as the nudity broadcasted empowers the female body. Lastly, parents against censorship believe this due to countless studies proving that behavior shown in videos does not necessarily lead to the child following the behavior. For example, it is shown that 2% of 15-18 year olds exposed to gambling actually take it up on a regular basis.

Fans

Many fans do not agree with censorship of Rihanna's music videos. They already idolize the pop star due to her music, otherwise they would not have found an interest in her music to begin with. With censorship added to her music videos this is a suppression of her personality and speech which she expresses through her lyrics. Rihannas fans love her for who she is, and do not want what she has to say to be covered. Rihanna has a wide fan base, so those mature enough to listen to mature content and swearing should not miss out. Likewise, people should be knowledgeable enough to realise not to repeat the behavior and content if they do not believe it is what they should be doing. In addition to this, Rihanna should not have to censor her music, this is a way of expressing herself, and if people do not want to be exposed to the content in which she offers they should object to listen to it. Rihanna has over 81 million fans on Facebook, and 47 million on twitter. This shows that many fans are understanding of her content and do not judge her on this, they like her untouched music and feel that it would ruin the effect that it gives off when it is censored. With censoring Rihannas videos this potentially distorts the message she is trying to get across to her audience. For example "Love The Way You Lie" video tries to address a serious issue of domestic violence. This issue should not be protected from younger children as the issue needs to be brought to light, and bring across a clear, positive message.

British Music Channel - MTV

MTV is a highly successful music television channel which first broadcasted many years ago, and since then has gone on to branch of its brand into many different television channels based on different genres of music. MTV show censored videos before 9pm, and uncensored videos after 9pm which is watershed. This is when it is believed that children will be in bed, and are not exposed to content which they possibly may not want to have seen. However, MTV's argument of censorship is that there is research to prove that children listen to music through their headphones for up to 2 hours per day, so there is no knowing what they listen to, and no controlling what they listen to, so is there much point in censoring videos as children are already exposed to the content. Furthermore, MTV are appreciative that parents may not want their children exposed to some of the content shown so the music television channel sure that artists have two versions of the songs, uncensored, and censored. Examples of this are Madonna and Lady Gaga.

British Music Channel - AKA

British Music Channel AKA is a music channel which helps to showcase new, starting out talent which is yet not discovered, which allows them to showcase their music in seek for opportunities that arise. AKA are not in favor of censorship as they believe it does not give the new artist a full chance to showcase their talent as they have to hide what they want to express, and may not fully be able to show to the audience what their music is about. Some artists that showcase on AKA can be controversial in order to stand out from the crowd and get the recognition that they were hoping for. AKA believe that music is art and a creation, and isn't there to be covered up or altered for anybody, it is an individuals choice whether or not they want to watch something. An example of when censoring of a song was not used positively was with Chris Browns song "These Hoes Aint Loyal" with censorship added, it changed the lyrics to "these girls aint loyal" giving a general impression that all girls aren't trustworthy and changed the whole meaning of the lyrics. This proves that sometimes by changing the lyrics of the song due to censorship, it can be more offensive than the original.

British Radio Station - Radio 1

British Radio Station, Radio 1 support the idea of censorship due to their wide target audience as they appeal to all ages. One example of censorship from BBC Radio 1 is completely banning Rihanna's song "S&M" from their music charts. This was because it was deemed to explicit for their listeners and charts. However, it is unsure whether this was the reason for removing the song as this came around after Nick Grimshaw was mocked by Rihanna, and after this he made sure that her song was taken of the chart. This was not beneficial to Rihanna as this gave her bad publicity and decreased her sales and profit as the song was not heard by her usual audience.

British Radio Station - Capital Xtra

British Radio Station Capital Xtra believe in both freedom of speech, yet songs should also be censored. The radio station believe that each artist is entitled to express themselves through their music, if this is by explicit content then they should be allowed. However, only uncensored songs are played after watershed at 9pm so they do not offend their younger listeners as they have a wide target audience. Before watershed, songs are censored by using many different techniques. This includes, blanking, when the must is replaced with silence. Changing of words, which changes the particular word with something that sounds similar which is called re-sampling. Back masking which says the word in a different way to not completely change the sound of the song.

Overall, I believe that the views on censorship are equal and have the same general opinions whether they are for censorship or against censorship. The overall argument is that people are entitled to their own opinion on censorship as people have many different reasons for and against. I personally believe and agree with both sides of the argument. I can understand parents which want to protect there child and not expose them to explicit content too early. However, I do believe that now days it is easy to access this content and children will eventually learn about this content sooner or later, so why not learn this in a controlled environment where the issues can be discussed. Furthermore, I believe that music helps to discuss important issues which need to be addressed, such as Rihannas "Love The Way You Lie" which addresses domestic abuse, with the censoring of the song this does not allow the full message to come across to the audience. Furthermore, I can also understand the reasoning for censorship as many people will not find explicit content appropriate for the music channel and do not think that it is necessary. Depending on my selected song for my music video I will ensure that I do not choose an overly explicit song so it will not offend any of our audience members.