Research into Censorship - Miss Miller

Research into Censorship

Introduction

Censorship is the suppression of all or part of a play, movie, letter, or publication considered offensive or a threat to security. Censorship is used on certain music video's to protect young people from either seeing explicit images or language, as this can influence bad behaviour on them. Censorship on the television is only shown after 9pm, which is named the watershed, as this is considered a reasonable time for children to either be asleep or not watching television at night time. After 9pm things like drugs, sexual references or nudity may be used, and this is shown after this time to protect the younger people.

Ofcom

Ofcom is the regulator and competition authority for UK communications industries. It regulates TV and radio, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services and airwaves which wireless devices use. Under the communications Act 2003, Ofcom has a duty to draw up, and from time to time revise, a code for television and radio services covering programme standards. This includes the protection of under 18's. Ofcom states that the rules are laid down for watershed to help parents protect their children from unsuitable material, whether its on the television or radio.

Ofcom makes extensive use of consultations with industry and the public to help make its decisions based upon the evidence presented. This begins with publishing documents on their website asking for views and responses. After this Ofcom then releases responses on their website and will use this as a basis for their decisions.

Artists video's that have been censored that I have researched is Rihanna - We found Love. This song was talked about a lot in the public, that explicit language and references on screen where too strong to be shown before 9pm. This song was then censored because of nudity, drugs, smoking, stealing, gambling and many more. The main reason for this also being censored is the fact that her target audience is teenagers, and this video would influence them in a bad way, leading them to perform the things that Rihanna is in her music video.

Point one - Artist

The artist which I researched into is Rihanna. As any artist would feel, Rihanna believed that her music video shouldn't be censored and felt that she was being targeted by the public. Rihanna felt that her music video was just her expressing her feelings and story to the public and no harm was meant to be caused. She states that nudity is a way of expressing that you are free, and no one should feel embarrassed to see this in her music videos, and shouldn't be censored. In a music video of Rihanna's she wore a t-shirt saying "censored", trying to make a point to the audience that she doesn't care what the audience think and censoring her song was wrong. Growing up with her audience is a key focus for her as she believes she adapts her videos to interest/attract her target audience to suit their lifestyles. Rihanna has a target audience of men and women, as women look up to her as a role model, and men find her attractive.

Point two- Record Label

Rihanna's record label is Rock Label and was founded by Jay-Z. Her record label believe that by not putting parental advisory stickers on Rihanna's songs/albums, she is able to reach a wider audience. Any artists record label have control over what is said to the audience, so by her record label wanting to express Rihanna through her nudity and explicit language, this should be fine as no harm is being made. All songs that are censored are very similar and hold the same conventions e.g. swearing, influence of drugs etc. Rihanna feel's that without these things her videos would be boring and wouldn't entertain her audience like she wants to. Without censorship being admitted to music video's they have stated that that the artists popularity decreases because there is nothing new to talk about. Most artists use things such as sexual references and narratives which relates to a past relationships to attract the audiences attention and get them talking about the artist, increasing their popularity. Thirteen on Rihanna's singles have reached number one in the US, which shows that her music is popular and attracts a wide and cultural audience. From this evidence, I feel that the audience don't care how Rihanna presents herself to the audience, they want to watch and listen to something different within the music industry and this is exactly what Rihanna does.

Point three - Parents FOR censorship

Parents for censorship means that they agree that censorship should be used, this may be to protect younger children or they just simply don't agree with explicit use within music videos being created in this era. The demand for music videos and music channels Is increasing and young children are watching them more and more as they grow older. From my research conducted, I found that Ofcom carried out a piece of research from 1000 parents in the UK on the main concerns of music videos. This piece of research showed that the main concerns where younger children e.g. 8-15 were watching music videos and seeing them as role models, and this following on to them wanting to be like them and copy them. As parents disagreed with Rihanna's music video the minute it was released, they had a lot of things to say about other artists as well. Miley Cyrus an artist in the UK and USA was previously known as 'Hannah Montana', a television programme on Disney channel in the late 90's and early 2000's. Hannah Montana was a children's show which was very popular, which was enjoyed by young children and approved by parents. We now see 'Hannah Montana' as Mile Cyrus, a bad role model to the younger audience, as she now includes drugs, nudity and tattooing into her everyday life. Parents feel that their children have grown up wanting to be Hannah Montana, and saw her as the ideal girl/woman, and now have turnt into something most parents wouldn't want to watch. Most parents feel younger children are now committing more crimes and bad activity due to music videos introducing crime as a good thing. I feel from researching into parents for censorship, I have collected some good ideas and thoughts from a wide audience, and how music videos don't just affect a younger audience but an older one too.

Point four - Parents AGAINST censorship

Parents against censorship think it shouldn't be used on music videos and they should be kept as they are, no matter what is involved within the video. From researching into this topic I found that many parents are against the idea of explicit use in music video's. Rihanna's music video's many only be shown on MTV after the watershed, but what use Is this? These video's can still be viewed on YouTube by anyone as their are no restrictions by what can or cant be seen. Some parents FOR censorship believe that children are influenced by music videos but these parents feel that these actions take place in everyday life anyway and can be witnessed by a child of any age, for instance smoking. Smoking in music videos is counted as being censored, although over 10million people in the UK smoke everyday. Also gambling, only 2% of 12-15 year olds who see gambling in a music video become frequent users. This 2% is hardly anything, and proves that most music videos do not influence children. Furthermore, parents against censorship feel that a child the age of 16 are old enough to decide on what they do or don't feel comfortable with watching, and a child the age of 10 can serve community service or go to an young offenders institution which proves the point that children at a young age know what they are doing, and shouldn't need guidance when watching a music video. 30% of 12 year olds have tasted alcohol and has their first sip at 7 so in society its normal to be brought up with these acts, so why should they be censored? Parents feel that children have to grow up in some point in their life, and music videos is the perfect way to see celebrities doing these things e.g. smoking or using drugs.  In the UK you have to be 18 to get a tattoo or 14 with parents consent. These show that there are controls on the matter and if younger children see this in music videos they will have to discuss it with their parents before getting one first or waiting till the are at a mature age of 18 anyway.

Point five- Fans

Fans of artists such as Rihanna believe that particular music genres should be able to express themselves but censorship overall stops this from happening. Fan's idolise over Rihanna and see her as a great role model, and feel there is nothing wrong with her music videos. Fan's feel that by censoring her music videos you cant see her real personality and the meaning of the lyrics. Filtering out or covering words may lead the audience to a miss understanding of the song, meaning the story line is not met. When Rihanna found out that one of her music video's had been censored she created a tweet on twitter saying "Are you fu*king kidding me", as she felt they had completely ruined her song and so did her fans. There was a lot of comments on this produced on social media from the public, disagreeing with the decision that had been made. 81million people have liked Rihanna on the social networking page Facebook and 41million on twitter which means the public know what to expect from her music videos and this shouldn't have been a surprise in her music video "we've found love". In a previous music video "love the way you lie" - Rihanna spoke/sung about abuse within a relationship, and this was taken very seriously by her fans so they don't see why this video was any different, also telling her audience a narrative and lesson to speak out and don't keep it a secret like she did, also sending a message out that this takes place in every day life although isn't recognised enough by the public. This music video had a very strong meaning and was ruined by censorship by cutting out words and images.

Point six- British Music Channel, MTV

MTV is a very popular music channel which broadcasts music videos online and also have their own television channel on sky and virgin media. As MTV is so popular and well-known globally, they abide by a lot of the rules of censorship. MTV protested that those under a certain age should be protected by some of the videos that they show and believe its their role and responsibility to do this by some of the music video's being censored. A fact has been presented that children listen to music up to 2 hours a day through headphones, either on a tablet, mobile phone or MP3 player, making it harder and harder for parents to control what their children are listening or watching. MTV feel they hold some responsibility to this which it why they introduced the watershed to their channel, meaning music videos they feel are inappropriate to younger children or teenagers are only played after 9pm. Sometimes artists produce two versions of their songs if they feel that they don't want it to be censored, for example Madonna. Whereas an artist like Rihanna feels that her music should be expressed how she makes it and making another version isn't necessary.

Point seven - British Music Channel, AKA
AKA is a music channel that has a purpose to highlight raw and different talent that they believe that shouldn't be censored as it will hide the artists talent. An artist that became famous through AKA is Chris Brown and his single "these h*es ain't loyal". As a lot of the public know, this song has two different versions due to the main word in the song being seen as rude and offensive towards women. The word 'hoes' was replaced for 'girls'. Without AKA the main single wouldn't have been released. AKA believe that its the audiences problem to control what they want to watch and approve as appropriate for their viewing. Music is seen to be an art and should be enjoyed by everyone. Everybody has a different taste of music, and whether it involves songs like Chris Brown or Rihanna's then it should be allowed. The channel doesn't censor videos as they don't know how far they would have to go with the censorship, for instance, different ethnic groups; they cant take one thing out for one group and not the other.

Point eight - British Radio Station, BBC RADIO ONE

Nick Grimshaw, a BBC radio one presenter interviewed Rihanna prior to her release of her single, "we found love". Rihanna mocked Nick on his own show, so when her song was released he started a petition for her song to be censored and banned from the char show on BBC radio one. He knew this would decrease her sales and famousness, as radio ones chart show is one of the most popular in the UK. His petition did work, as her song was released from the top 20, and from this Rihanna was outraged. She expressed her feelings on social networking sites, and claimed that she had mocked Nick on his show, the reason why he was trying to ruin her life. Radio One also felt her song was too explicit for the show anyway, and the ban was just a bonus for Nick Grimshaw.

Point nine - British Radio Station, CAPITAL XTRA

Like most other radio stations, Capital Xtra believe that songs with explicit or inappropriate language should be played after the watershed at 9pm. Although, if they play a song before this time they use certain techniques. blanking, silencing, beeping, re-sampling, backmasking and repeating are all things that are used to hide/cover-up explicit language. A sound may be used such as a beep to cover a swear word, or explicit language may be covered by the previous word before being repeated or another word being used. An example of this is Chris brown's song, being changed from "hoes" to "girls". Capital Xtra do this to protect their audience and viewers from hearing things they shouldn't, which works well as the audience understand this and if they want to hear the full, un-edited version then they should listen after 9pm.

Conclusion
Overall, I have a mixed opinion on Censorship. I believe that if artists want to include things such as explicit language then they should, as trying to change the lyrics may lead to a misunderstanding to the song and the audience not get the true narrative and create a relationship with the artist. I feel that artists music videos shouldn't be censored in this day and age, although kept at a minimum if possible, as some figures do show that crime in teenagers can be influenced from music videos. Most of the public, including myself, only listen to music either on the radio or through an MP3 player, so not seeing visuals and hearing blurred out lyrics or repetition can confuse you as you cant hear the true story of the lyrics and the meaning. This post has helped me look at the nine different points and views on censorship. I have been able to research into these in depth and get a true understanding on how important censorship can truly be. I think that when creating my own music video I will look closely and censorship, and use it in certain places and some not, depending on what I decide to include in my music video, and whether I feel its too explicit for my target audience.