censor censor

The other day in TOK i had to present an issue that i thought was relevant and that i had come across in everyday life.

I decided to focus on an issue that my parents and i were talking about the other day during dinner.

We were talking about issues from the past, such as the Vietnam War and the Apartheid as well as the genocide with Pol Pot.

My mum then said to my dad

"god i remember when i was much younger and i was watching the news with my parents when they showed this man getting shot by one of Pol Pot's men on the tv, do you remember that?"

and it got me thinking.

When was the last time we saw something like that on our news?

We very seldom get shown any violent footage on the news anymore, nothing compared to what they used to show, and although i would agree world issues has become more televised as a whole, i would argue that the content has been lessened in violence.

If this is the case, should it be up to the news, to decide the extent to which we see things?

As suggested in class the reason behind the news's choice to not show such violent footage could be due to the fact that the public may react negatively and cause problems for the news companies.

But I still don't believe that this is morally right. A lot of people rely on the news to show them important world issues. And although a lot of people may not want to see violent or disturbing footage on the news, it is the truth and just because it makes us uncomfortable doesn't mean we should detach ourselves from it.

In terms of parental issues. I think that it is their responsibility to shield the violent footage from their children if they wish, but not the news channel's decision to not even give the public the choice either way.

As knowers, this says that we may not actually know a lot of what we think we know, and that a lot of our knowledge claims could be more altered or censored than we realise. I guess this particular issue really highlights the concern of truth and reality compared to the perception of reality.