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The Mézga Family is an animated television series that ran for three seasons in Hungary between 1970 and 1980 (produced between 1968 and 1978). In the first season, the twentieth-century Hungarian family establishes contact with their descendant from the thirtieth century who sends them futuristic gadgets whose use results in various adventures. In the second season, the family's youngest member goes out on missions to other planets in a spaceship built by himself. In the third season, the family goes on vacation during which several calamities befall them. The irony directed at facile utopian desires allowed the series to subtly express deeper-penetrating concerns but simultaneously remain light-hearted. This article introduces the term 'cynical utopia' to explain how the season generates multi-layered meanings and critical commentary. By using the conventions of utopia, sf and fairy tales, the series could discuss social and even political issues in a period when state control over media content was strict in Hungary and the production of a clearly dystopian work on national television would have been unimaginable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study describing how differences in Chinese government regulations over mainstream television versus online programming have permitted the music talent show "The Rap of China" to have more programming freedom since it debuted in 2017. Topics discussed include heavy Western influence on the show, effect of censorship of hip-hop culture in China, and link between music and language ideology.

The article investigates the examples of verbal aggression manifestations in publicistic texts that assess the modern broadcasting practice and the content of the main Russian television companies, "Literaturnaya gazeta", one of the popular weekly periodicals in Russia. In each issue of this newspaper, several articles were published with an assessment of the quality of television broadcasts. Having studied the archives of "Literaturnaya gazeta" issues (260 in total) for the period of 2012-2016, we found 842 articles containing both positive and negative evaluations of TV shows, the work of the TV show hosts and the trends of modern federal television broadcasting. Using the methods of "Literaturnaya gazeta" continuous monitoring, a quantitative and a content analysis of its articles and the comparison of the articles of television critics published in different years, we found out that a large part of the analyzed articles, the thing was about television programs and famous persons taking part in them. Having analyzed the style of information presentation in the publications of television critics of "Literaturnaya gazeta", we found out that verbal aggression over the chronological period of the research was one of the frequently used methods to develop a negative public opinion about the practice of the main Russian television channel functioning. In 2012-2016 this language phenomenon was applied in relation to television programs, television personalities and to characterize a social-political situation in the country where Russian television operates. We believe that the regular appeal of critics to verbal aggression testifies to the desire of "Literaturnaya gazeta" authors to influence the audience more emotionally than rationally and follow a simple path, revealing and replicating the negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postmillennial China has witnessed a surge of TV entertainment programs that constantly straddle the line between market demands and state mandate. Taking If You Are the One, a top-rated dating program that has evoked much controversy as a case study, this article seeks to expand current understanding of the entangled relationship between entertainment and politics in contemporary China. Delving into the critical juncture at which If You Are the One encounters state censors, this article illuminates how the official mandate has played a pivotal role in catalyzing the transformation of If You Are the One from a copycat of Western reality shows into one imprinted with Chinese characteristics. Moreover, the readiness and flexibility of those involved with television programming to negotiate, reciprocate, and adjust their stances characterize the nascent norm of television culture production. Thus, the way in which If You Are the One reinvents its agenda to meet state expectations, pacifies the irritated audience, and subsequently enhances its critical agency illustrates the mutually reconfiguring relationships between official, commercial, and mainstream forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study focuses on Sesame Street and sets out to examine how Sesame Workshop, as a 'non-profit' organization targeting children, has been able to continuously transform and make itself relevant in a predominantly commercial children's television landscape dominated by transnational ownership structures. The analysis includes an investigation of Sesame Workshop's mission statements, organizational structure, annual fiscal reports, promotional material and other written sources from the 1970s to the 2010s. We focus on the Workshop's own arguments and reasons for why their 'non-profit' status was, and still is, better at taking care of children's interests than the for-profit companies. These understandings are held up against the, at times, very commercial logic guiding the workshop's business model, and analysed within the economic and political context of children's television in the United States and the Workshop's key international target markets. Our theoretical framework draws upon insights from work on political economy and children's media and comparative media systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article outlines how teachers curate Australian screen content for use in classrooms from pre-school to senior secondary school. It suggests teachers use their professional knowledge of curriculum and pedagogy to arrange screen resources, curriculum concepts and student experiences to promote learning. This complex curatorial process adds value to broadcaster and producer curation processes that aim to position cut-down clips and educational resources for classroom use. The article draws on a national research project that undertook interviews with 150 teachers in schools across Australia. The authors suggest the ongoing digital disruption of the school sector presents both opportunities and challenges for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The Special Broadcasting Service and the Australian Children's Television Foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free-to-air channels for Arabic-speaking children expanded alongside the emergence of a few Arab national regulatory agencies with varying degrees of independence from government and powers that could potentially influence children's channels. Even so, the rationales that inform production and acquisition of children's screen content in the region remain far from transparent, beyond rhetoric about protecting children from material that 'breaches cultural boundaries and values'. Drawing on theoretical literature that highlights regulation's effect on policy, and links the principles of provision, protection and participation in relation to children's media, this article compares regulatory discourses and practices revealed in the documents and speeches of Arab regulators, broadcasters and independent production companies. It finds that, with some exceptions, only the latter advocate measures that look beyond a narrow interpretation of 'protection'. A dominant consensus around the narrow vision seems to stand in the way of developing more stimulating approaches to regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Audience measurement techniques currently fail to provide a clear picture of trends in children's television viewing because of the diversification in devices on which television content can be viewed. It is argued that understanding how children engage with television content is undermined by commonplace but problematic comparisons of time spent on television viewing and on Internet use, in which it is widely believed that children are deserting 'television' for 'the Internet'. Although it is already well known that television content can be viewed on Internet-enabled devices such as tablets, smartphones and laptop computers while Internet content and services can be accessed via Internet-enabled television sets, such viewing cannot be measured satisfactorily at present. While no doubt measurement techniques will continue to improve in accuracy, this article suggests that such measurement difficulties matter at a time when children's public service broadcasting provision is falling and further threatened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Children's Television Standards (CTS) where the television matter is censored for the Australian children's viewing. It talks about the media regulations being affected by politics which brings changed in the licensing fees and media ownership rules. It tells about the allowance of Australian children to watch shows by the CTS as it promotes Australian culture.

The article offers information on the television (TV) censorship of the film "The War Game" of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) in 1965. It mentions that the film's censorship highlights an interaction between British government ministers such as Prime Minister Harold Wilson and civil servants in Whitehall. It discusses the relationship between Whitehall and BBC's upper echelon during the Cold War period.

The article explores Chinese fans of the television series "The Big Bang Theory." ("TBBT") Particular focus is given to online resistance to censorship of the show. Additional topics discussed include the streaming Web site Sohu TV, the television critics Gong Haomin and Yang Xin, and online communities of fans.

The official aspect of Syrian culture has been for long shaped and controlled bywizarat al-thaqafa,or the Ministry of Culture in a country whose government for long prided itself as culturally progressive. The history of this important government department reflects the political developments of the country, and the cultural activities and materials it produces deeply influence the intellectual development of Syrian society. I argue in this article that even though the Ministry is part of the Syrian government and regime, it attempts to be a more independent and democratic enterprise that produces a great deal of cultural resources and allows artistic and intellectual spaces for the Syrian public. Many Syrian voices of dissent were provoked by the performance of the Ministry which is often viewed as an extension of the leading Ba’ath Party and its outdated literature and ideologies. This Ministry has impacted cultural movements within Syria, regardless of being sponsored by the regime, which has attempted to control public and private media outlets and the educational system to pass its discourse to the public. This paper shows that the Ministry of Culture has successfully escaped serving as a mouthpiece for the party and how the ministry’s role in Syrian cultural development goes beyond offering legitimation to the regime in exchange for institutional support. It also aims to demonstrate how the way we view and understand cultural outputs in Syria enables us to comprehend the complexities of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines perceived television quality by considering the role played by viewers’ concerns about television content. These concerns are classified into two categories: pragmatic and moral. The research question is analysed empirically for Spain. Results show that pragmatic concerns are more important for the audience than moral concerns both in 2008 and 2012. Both types of factors are considered to have worsened their development in this period. However, general perception of television quality in Spain has improved between 2008 and 2012. This is associated to a more positive opinion regarding national public service television, but to a more negative perception of the quality of television channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper maps the production history ofMalayalee House(2013) a reality television show telecast by Surya TV, one of the many Malayalam satellite channels in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Publicized as a Malayalam edition of Bigg Boss, it soon ran into controversy with the filing of the injunction at the Bombay High Court by Endemol group, the makers ofBigg Bosswho alleged copyright infringement. This was followed by protests by women's organizations and an outcry for television censorship. The making and the telecast would leave the participants and the producers at loggerheads about the unsaid norms which govern the so called “appropriate” content to be telecast during the prime time. Using an ethnographic lens, I map out the varied circuits taken by the television program and the “afterlives” of the participants, to explore the social dynamics that shaped the debates in the post-telecast phase. In doing so, I try and see how rather than a mere deployment of “electronic eyes” and voyeuristic gaze, Malayalee House was an attempt to push the limits of tolerance that Malayali society would have towards the open expression of intimacy and sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the impact of libertarian individualism of the conservatives and liberals on the blacklisted and suspected communist television writers in the U.S., based on the treatment of the 1950-era television shows "You Are There," "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and "The Buccaneers." The shows are evaluated using various criteria including the use of aliases by the writers, the level of anti-McCarthyism and the use of historical themes to highlight political advocacy.

News Media; especially the 24X7 TV news channels in India are facing constant criticism for practicing favoritism as a standard operating procedure, since 2014 general election. 2014 witnessed republican India’s first intensively televised elections. As of March 2014, statistics released by I & B Ministry suggest that there are 792 TV channels in India in which 392 are the news and current affairs channels. These channels left no stone unturned in order to get scoop, breaking news, surveys and special programs during elections. However the intent as well content of coverage was always under deep scrutiny by one or other section of the society. This paper aims to present the facts behind such a disturbing perception. Is the influence of corporate ownership eaten the scope of objective reporting? Or, our society is functioning in such a way that they would like to see everything in white or, black and there is no scope for gray? That means either you are in support of a popular sentiment or you may face the threat to be labeled as anti-social or worst anti-national. However, there are sections who just want news to be back without any aggravated views. This paper aims to critically analyze all this aspect of contemporary electronic news channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of censorship has lately been discussed in poststructural theoretical debates as analogous to the formation of the aesthetic product that distinguishes itself from the generic substitution of products, texts and cultural artefacts. While a binary visualization of the concept presents it in negative terms, censorship has been assessed in contemporary continental philosophical debates as an analyzer of the actants involved in communication and discourse formation. Although a long dialogue has existed between literary/artistic practitioners and censorial bodies the current interrogations of the subtexts of censorship deal with the development of the concept in the works of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Roland Barthes, Judith Butler, Michael Holquist, Pierre Bourdieu and Ilan Stavans. The dialogue of censorship as it moves away from the confines of the repressive and subliminal accessory of authority are highlighted and interrogated in turn in the present assessment that draws its foundations from the evental politics of Alain Badiou and contextualizes the same within the periphery of the concepts of the censor and censored while also transgressing the locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Press has never been free in a conflict zone like Kashmir nor have journalists ever worked in a safe environment. Whenever protests or anything of the sort takes place in Kashmir, journalists are the first victims to face the wrath of forces. There are so many instances when journalists have been beaten up ruthlessly while delivering their professional duties. In 2011, four journalists were roughed up very badly by the paramilitary forces. All of them sustained severe injuries; their equipments seized and were later detained as well. The four journalists, working for Al-Jazeera, Getty Images, Dainik Bhaskar and AP Television, were covering Friday protests in old town of Srinagar city when troopers thrashed them. They were beaten with rifle butts and batons. In another incident a foreign journalist was also beaten while covering a street protest. Narciso Contreras, who works for California based Zuma Press Agency, was beaten up badly along with other local journalist. The two were dragged to the police station, beaten there and detained for several hours. The purpose of this paper is to learn what problems journalists face in a conflict zone and also how they carry out their professional duties by noting down their anecdotes through interview method and a questionnaire. The incidents of violations against journalists from the period of 2008 to 2011 will also be researched through content analysis method of some newspapers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, broadcasters have joined hands to self-regulate only after the precincts of free speech have been transgressed and the government has threatened to step in. The success or failure of self-regulation across the world has depended on the motivation and proficiency of bodies, but the genesis has always been the threat of governmental regulation. In the Indian case, the origin of self- regulation of content can be understood by tracing the series of events that led to it. The first self-regulatory efforts for news on television started in 2007, when after a series of failed attempts to introduce legislation to rein in television, the government finally came up with the revised draft of the Broadcasting Bill in 2007. Television had by then transgressed its image as the vanguard of freedom and democratic rights to that of a profit oriented enterprise which faced a crisis of content, chasing ratings and advertising revenue. Imminent state intervention saw the setting up of a body to self-regulate news in 2008, followed by another body to self-regulate entertainment channels in 2011. Though there have been primarily two approaches to regulation – Structural and Content, and studying them in isolation may provide a partial picture of this complex issue, this paper chooses to focus on content regulation. While studying the interplay between the state and broadcasting actors which led to the setting up of the self-regulatory mechanism, this paper cross examines the progress of the self-regulatory mechanisms on Indian television. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the reasons behind the ban of a film in India? What qualifies as conflictual thematically? Is there an apprehension of an alternative discourse? These are some of the key questions that this research paper attempts to answer. The authors of this research paper studied the narratives of 11 films that faced some kind of censorship. The paper uses the narrative analysis technique to demonstrate that the aim of censorship in most of the cases was either the suppressing the alternative ideological discourse or re-appropriating it. This research paper aims to analyze 11 films between 1970 and 2014 which faced censorship and were even banned. In addition to this, expert interviews have been conducted to understand the subject of suppression of alternative discourse through censorship of films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to articles published within the issue is presented, including one on by Gabriele Bock et al on the origins and operation of television broadcaster Channel 4, another by Laura Mayne on forgotten and frequently recalled films, and one by Justin Smith on the tensions between Channel 4's art-house films and censorship.

This article charts the history of an experiment, conducted during the autumn and winter of 1986-7, in which Channel 4 trialled an on-screen visual warning symbol to accompany screenings of a series of international art-house films. The so-called 'red triangle' experiment, though short-lived, will be considered as a case study for exploring a number of related themes. Firstly, it demonstrates Channel 4's commitment during the 1980s to fulfilling its remit to experiment and innovate in programme form and content, in respect of its acquired feature film provision. Channel 4's acquisitions significantly enlarged the range of international classic and art-house cinema broadcast on British television. Secondly, it reflects contemporary tensions between the new broadcaster, its regulator the IBA, campaigners for stricter censorship of television and policy-makers. The mid-1980s was a period when progressive developments in UK film and television culture (from the rise of home video to the advent of Channel 4 itself) polarised opinions about freedom and regulation, which were greatly exacerbated by the press. Thirdly, it aims to shed light on the paradox that, while over thirty years of audience research has consistently revealed the desire on the part of television viewers for an on-screen ratings system, the UK is not among some forty countries that currently employ such devices on any systematic basis. In this way the history of a specific advisory experiment may be seen to have a bearing on current policy trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of Arab media have explored key aspects of Gulf-Levant media integration in the wake of the privatisation of Arab media over the past several decades. Their studies tend to characterise the controversies that arise from this integration in terms of the relative influence of Islamist or religious values on producers and consumers. Yet behind these Gulf-Levant tensions, this article will argue, there is also a different cultural logic at work, one that engages other dimensions of culture apart from the religious, and concerns the relationship between documentation and authority in a once predominantly nomadic society. This logic was brought to the fore over the Syrian-produced, Gulf-financed Ramadan television series, Finjān al-Damm (‘Cup of Blood’). The Finjān al-Damm controversy speaks to a number of concerns that are crucial for understanding social and political life in the Arabian Peninsula today. These include the nature of censorship in Saudi Arabia, the nature of citizen activism in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies, and the Saudi state's attitude towards tribalism. Underlying these concerns, the Finjān al-Damm story underscores a new consciousness about the relationship between documentation and authority in societies transitioning from predominantly oral to textual cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since Davison (1983) proposed the hypothesis regarding the Third-Person Effect (TPE), it has been widely accepted by researchers in communication. The objective of this study is to test both perceptual and behavioral components of TPE in Spain related to media in general, violent, pornographic, and trash TV shows (in particular, the TV show Sálvame, Save me! in Spanish). Relying on two different surveys, the study confirms the perceptual component of the third-person effect for media and controversial content. Moreover, respondents perceive Sálvame as the most negative content, with the majority stating that they have tried to protect family and friends from the contents of the program and would be in favor of censoring it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High levels of censorship and restrictions in the media coverage in many of the countries of the Middle East explain the quality of reporting in the region. This comparative analysis of the BBC and Al Jazeera English (AJE) during the 2009 Iranian election illustrates the threats and difficulties faced by both BBC and AJE journalists country such as Iran. Analysis shows that international reporters on the ground with Iranian passport face more obstacles than foreign reporters without Iranian passports in reporting the 'reality' of the country. This article concludes that AJE, which had an all-Iranian team, faced more danger from the Iranian government as a result of their coverage than the BBC's all-English team. This contributed to the disparity in the coverage of both networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the mechanisms of early television censorship from 1947 to 1952, looking at the restrictions placed on content, and the process that shows and advertisements went through before being broadcast. This article focuses on the inner workings of the National Broadcasting Company's (NBC) censoring arm, the Continuity Acceptance Department, and takes into consideration the medium-specific qualities of television and the challenges presented to those who had the task of regulating broadcast content. In addition to a general discussion of regulations, this article examines the censorship of homosexual characterizations in early television, looking specifically at the use of 'swish' routines (which make use of stereotyped gay mannerisms) in comedy shows. While networks and the National Association for Radio and Television Broadcasters established codes to govern their censorship apparatuses, the process of censorship was less an enforcement of hard and fast rules than a constant negotiation over content and allowable material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1997, the television industry created the TV Parental Guidelines, the program rating system that works in conjunction with the V-chip. To help gain the Federal Communications Commission's approval of the system, the industry also created the Oversight Monitoring Board, which it pledged would engage in a range of activities to ensure the accuracy and consistency of television program ratings. This article examines the operation and effectiveness of the board and the television program rating system as a form of industry self-regulation and provides suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of both the board and the rating system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the way in which censorship, critical reception, and program format influenced the development of primetime serial television programs through an examination of the production of the program "Peyton Place." The author describes how the program deviated from the depiction of sex found in its source material, the novel "Peyton Place" by Grace Metalious, as well as the American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) related efforts to censor the program prior to its initial airing. Consideration is given to the development of the show's storyline continuity.

Focusing on the work of the left-wing film and television director Roy Battersby, this article seeks to shed light on the issues at stake in the controversies surrounding the production and reception of 'radical television drama' during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Through an examination of a number of BBC productions that were either cut ( Five Women), banned (Hit Suddenly Hit) or the subject of moral and political objections ( The Operation and Leeds United!), the discussion indicates how arguments over 'radical' television drama involved a degree of shift away from concerns with the blurring of boundaries between 'fact' and 'fiction' towards a preoccupation with political 'balance' (that involved the application of criteria to drama that were originally reserved for documentaries). Although the period in question is often characterised as one in which the creators of television drama enjoyed substantial creative freedom to make work that challenged the status quo, this article also reveals how such work was far from the norm and often only got made, and shown, in the face of considerable opposition. The article therefore concludes with an assessment of some of the ideological and institutional constraints weighing upon 'radical' political expression in television drama at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disputes over language and meaning are central themes in South Park. The show pushes the boundaries of acceptable communication and challenges censorship. This article explores the show's treatment of language. It focuses on one episode, “The F Word,” to illustrate how the show uses sophisticated strategies of contesting meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

China’s television sector has undergone rapid transformation since the country’s reform and opening-up in the late 1970s. This article presents the main results of a recently completed PhD project, aiming to understand the role of the Chinese party-state in this transformation. The project supports global transformation theories and develops a three-tier analytical framework to assess (1) the transformation of television governance by the party-state; (2) the impact of party-state policies on Chinese television; and (3) the interplay of party-state policies with other power factors. The findings suggest that the transformation of Chinese television has undergone three stages – internationalization, transnationalization and renationalization – in accordance with the changing role of the Chinese party-state under globalization. The study complements global transformation theories in presenting evidence from a transitional Communist country to show that the (party-) state not only remains a key actor for globalization, but has itself also undergone profound changes in response to it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This essay focuses on television censorship during the last military regime in Brazil (1964-1985) by examining the performance of television censors employed by the Public Entertainment Censor Department (Divisao de Censura e Diversoes Publicas, DCDP). It challenges common perceptions about small-screen censorship during this period, pointing to the need to analyse the boundaries and the spaces of autonomy in each television genre. It focuses on the multiple tensions and struggles between the written procedures and codes, the censors' subjective interpretation of television texts and the negotiation process of the broadcast contents between censors and television producers. The recent opening of the Censor Division Archives (DCDP) and the deluge of biographies, autobiographies and testimonials of key television figures during the authoritarian regime, have opened up new perspectives to examine Brazilian TV history and the place television censors had within it. Annotated and censored scripts of telenovelas and comedy series, correspondence exchanged between the executives of Globo Television Network, the hegemonic TV station in Brazil at the time, and the regime's authorities, printed press reports, as well as audiovisual content that is now available to researchers, constitute some of the sources analysed in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay that explores the impact that the television show "The Wallace and Ladmo Show" had on children's television programming in the United States is presented. It examines the program's use of subversive humor and discusses the censorship of children's television in the U.S. It also examines how the show developed after the addition of actor Pat McMahon in 1960.

This article describes the problems of accessing audiovisual archives when trying to write the history of Brazilian telenovelas under the military rule in Brazil (1964-1985). It proposes the analysis of censorship reports on television products as a way to compensate for the lack of access to audiovisual material, using the Censor Archives as an extremely rich source that could help partially to recover the history of Brazilian television under military rule. At the same time, it raises important methodological questions which should be taken into account by researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the censorship system of films in China which is described as stricter than the censorship of printed materials and television. It cites disunification, homosexuality and prodemocratic movement as major banned thematic categories in film production in China. It mentions how the success of a gay and lesbian film festival in an old factory on April 24, 2010 reflects the unique state of queer life in China. It cites the formation of an international alliance that brought China's queer existence to the West.

The article focuses on the public debate concerning the control of television and radio broadcasting in Russia. It cites the reactions of several journalists and religious leaders on the censorship of television programs, which they suggest to have a supervision on the programs administered in televisions. It mentions the censorship and information policy in Russia, in which live broadcasts are not allowed for it show too much vulgarity in television viewers.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Katharina Nötzold and Judith Pies on reporting of local news in television broadcasting in Lebanon and Jordan, one by Naomi Sakr on censorship in Arab television and one by Riadh Ferjani on Arab television's treatment of religion.

There is more to the denial of freedom of expression than outright censorship. The right to freedom of expression is interdependent with, and indivisible from, other rights guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To discuss freedom of expression narrowly as if it were self-contained, and to conceal the issues, processes, and conflicts implicit in its achievement, can be seen as a hegemonic strategy that serves relations of domination. Three sets of public exchanges analyzed here, conducted on and about Arab television against a background of growing international intolerance for free speech, arguably contributed to a narrow, reified understanding of freedom of expression. The first centered on a television drama serial, the second on cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, and the third on the ambitions of a privately owned television station in Egypt. Since freedom of expression was repeatedly referred to in all three cases, it might be said that Arab television increased awareness on this topic. Evidence shows, however, that instead of illuminating ways in which the rights and duties inherent in freedom of expression could benefit the viewing public, each set of exchanges helped to sustain power relations by obscuring them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of an ARC Discovery project to write a history of Australian television from the point of view of audiences, I looked for Australian television fan communities. It transpired that the most productive communities exist around imported programming like the BBC's Doctor Who. This program is an Australian television institution, and 1 was therefore interested in finding out whether it should be included in an audience-centred history of Australian television. Research in archives of fan materials showed that the program has been made distinctively Australian through censorship and scheduling practices. There are uniquely Australian social practices built around it. Also, its very Britishness has become part of its being — in a sense — Australian. Through all of this, there is a clear awareness that this Australian institution originates somewhere else — that for these fans Australia is always secondary, relying on other countries to produce its myths for it, no matter how much it might reshape them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author examines aspects and results of attempts to censor the U.S. television program "The Untouchables," produced in the 1960s. At issue, there was a campaign against the program mounted by Italian American organizations that claimed that the series portrayed Italians in a poor light and associated them with organized crime entities such as the Mafia. The author notes that the movement prompted ineffective attempts at government censorship, while the direct action, characterized by boycotts and letter-writing campaigns, brought about changes in the program's scripts and characters.

This article looks at the television landscape in Indonesia that has undergone a major transformation in recent decades. As one of the 'Asian Tigers,' Indonesia introduced commercial television in two waves between 1989 and 2002 as a complement to the traditional state broadcaster, TVRI. During the Reformasi movement, commercial TV stations contributed to the emerging civil society in the period 1998-2000 by supporting the movement for democratic reform that led to the resignation of President Suharto. An assessment of the current Indonesian television scene shows that most commercial TV stations, after a short coalition with civil society, went 'back to business' again in the context of a relatively young but highly competitive Indonesian market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of television fiction in terms of women's sexuality and sexual oppression. It uses the cult television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as a case study. It argues that some censorships have taken the opportunity of viewers to reflect upon and debate sexual mores. It also criticizes some editorial cuts of the television series that undermine its ability to promote a discussion of male sexual violence against women. Moreover, research evidence suggests that television fiction can actively engage viewers in issues associated to them.

Since the controversial 2004 Super Bowl halftime show with Janet Jackson, local TV general managers have been under pressure to identify and control indecent network programming—programming they do not originate yet can be fined for by the FCC. The purpose of this study was to see what local station general managers were thinking about this issue, and to see how moral reasoning may contribute to their thinking. Most of the 217 managers surveyed tended to apply moral reasoning principles consistent with lower levels of established normative models. The results demonstrate the potential of directly applying moral reasoning theory to the practice of gatekeeping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The House of Lords Communications Committee recommends more muscle for the broadcasting watchdog, yet Ofcom's report reads like a souped-up store catalogue, writes academic Petley. And he attacks Ofcom's latest reports: "New News [the Lords report] and Ofcom's first and second PSB review demonstrate in the clearest possible manner that what the vast majority of UK citizens want is, at the very least, the maintenance of the current level of provision of regional news programmes on ITV. But what does the Annual Report highlight as Ofcom's proudest achievement in 2007/8 in terms of "improving compliance and empowering citizens and consumers"? Clamping down on the mis-selling of mobile phones, making it easier to switch mobile phone operators, introducing protection against "slamming" (having your phone account moved to another provider without your knowledge), imposing fines on broadcasters for operating premium phone line scams, and requiring Channel 4 to broadcast Ofcom's censure of Celebrity Big Brother 2007 on three separate occasions." This signals that the prospects for public service broadcasting as a whole, let alone regional news provision on ITV, are indeed bleak in the extreme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the media coverage of wars and international conflicts. The rivalry between Cable News Network (CNN) and British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) in the television (TV) coverage of wars is highlighted. Political issues concerning the censorship of war reporting by different governments are outlined.