Television and Media Essay - Dangers of Censorship :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Dangers of Censorship   Imagine yourself as a diary keeper today who is frozen and wakes up in the join States 100 geezerhood from now.  The country has changed quite a bit from what you remember.  Technology has definitely advanced, speech seems to have evolved a bit, and nothing looks the same, except fashion.  Due to a late cut back that brought back the 90s you are strangely up on the modern fashion trends.  As you roam the streets, you try to gain a behavior on this advanced country so you pick up a newspaper.  You notice something rather peculiar about every article - the hardly source is the United States Government.  As you read further, you notice very slender information is given at all, and the details that are given are always in favor of the government.   Thinking back to 1999, you remember that mettlesome school publications were already censored and college security review was not far behind.  Could that trend have mov ed all the way to professional journalistic organizations?  patch this is merely a fictitious projection into the future, it portrays the likely outcome of the precedents that are being set today.  If nothing is done, trends in high school and college censorship may lead to total offer censorship in the United States, thus violating the world-class Amendment to the United States Constitution.  This would, in turn, exterminate journalism and set off an assorted field of public relations.   The First Amendment of the United States Constitution distinctly states that congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.  A journalist, whether he or she is a writer, editor, photographer or artist, believes in this right and has an obligation to use it to inform the public.  So, the First Amendment not only protects journalists rights to free speech, but it also protects the publics right to information.  However, the courts have begun to deal out away these rights.   It began with high school publications in 1988.  During the case Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, the U.S. absolute Court decided against students and gave school officials the ability to censor student publications without violating the First Amendment.  High school journalists now have the right to only issue what the officials deem appropriate.