GMAT Essays (AWA)

"In some countries, television and radio programs are carefully censored for offensive language and behavior. In
other countries, there is little or no censorship" - Issue



Censorship of electronic media exists in all countries, however the content which is censored varies. In most of countries, tv and radio programs are censored for offensive language and behavior, which in part is done for benefit of youth of the country and in part reflects the cultural, moral and traditional values of the country, that must be preserved. Citing the reasons in the preceding line, I am in favor of carefully censored tv and radio transmission because it negates the consequences of explicit language and behavior on country's youth and culture.

Firstly, protecting the youth from consequences of offensive language and behavior is of utmost importance for a censor body. Generally youth tend to pick up trends and behavior from what they see and hear on tv and radio, if censoring is not done then youth will easily pick up explicit language, acts and behavior and will try to imitate them, which will lead to crime, anti-social elements and unhealthy environment in country. for example, a few years back in India and few other Asian country's, when cable TV debuted, there was no censorship on channels and programs and there were few channels like tb6, REN TV which were literally transmitting domestic porn. This had a very bad effect on youth, which was visible in their behavior and activities, all this created ripples at local and national level leadership. Development of such environment due to consequences of such television channels, provoked the govt's to create a censor body and imposed a ban on such channels.

Secondly, censoring of electronic media plays a role in infusion of cultural, moral, and traditional values in citizens of country. Since, censor body blocks the programs and channels with offensive language and behavior, then not much is left to transmit on tv and radio. this leads to development of regional programs based on cultural situations in different parts of country. For example, with introduction of cable tv in Asian country's, initially only a few English programs dubbed into local language were transmitted. There was very less viewership because of censorship and scarcity of local language channels. This led to inception of local production houses which started producing programs that suited and interested local viewers because such programs showcased the local language, cultural , moral and traditional values. So censorship of few channels led to production of new channels and programs which promoted and reflected country's local cultural, values and tradition.

On the other hand some lobbyist and sections of society may argue that censoring tv and radio programs is a violation of their right to freedom. Such people argue that since its their life, they have full right to see and hear the programs they like, and people who do not feel that content is not suitable for them can abstain from watching and hearing such programs. These people clearly show their selfishness towards society and simply do not want to understand the crux of censoring tv and radio. For example, people like fashion designers and page 3 personalities argue that transmission of tv and radio without censoring them would lead to awareness about GMAT, relationships and different cultures, ignoring the fact that youth's intuition about such topics leads them to experiment with them and sometimes push them in anti-social activities for fulfilling their needs. So if demands of people lobbying against censor of tv and radio are fulfilled then, society will have to face well known evils and effects as a result.

In Conclusion, decision of some countries to censor tv and radio programs works in their favor by negating bad consequences of offensive language and behavior on youth and promotes country's local cultural and traditional values. Although some people might argue that this is against their right to freedom, but to preserve our culture and promote good and healthy environment for youth, deeds of arguing people have to be ignored.