North Korea is known to be the country which practices more media censorship than any other country in the world according to the reports released by the independent, non-profit committee to protect journalists (CPJ) which gathers annual statistics on the number of journalists killed, threatened or harassed as a way to monitor global press freedom 1. One main reason the ruling person or government practices media censorship is the fact that it wants to keep away the critical analysis of the government’s performance from the public; it also wants the citizens of the country to bear perceptions that it is fulfilling its promises.
This should be a concern to every individual involved since the opposing voice should be heard because it’s not like the doctor is always right about medical incidents, so, why should the ruling party be always perceived right about its political views? Views of journalists and of the press at large should be expressed to a degree whereby the public can be properly addressed, therefore aware about the current affairs that are taking place.
The rating degrees of censorship are normally compiled by considering 17 different benchmarks such as censorship laws; imprisonment and harassment of journalists; restrictions on private Internet access; jamming of foreign news broadcasts and the degree of the state’s control of the media2.
Looking at my country which is South Arica, the media is also censored and the citizens are forced to comply with the government for this practice. The only difference is that, the punishment of journalists, press releases etc. which oppose the government are not similar to those that are witnessed in North Korea. According to a research that I did about the subject, it stated that:
The chief censor who is Interior Minister Theophilus Ebenhaezer Donges, son of a Dutch reformed clergymen. By law, he can ban anything he considers “indecent, obscene or…objectionable,” and no court can overrule him. While his government is conducting an official inquiry into the policies of its own press and ceaselessly snipping at foreign correspondents who report from South Africa, Donges has cut off more and more books and magazines for outside3.
This means that we (the citizens) can only access the source of information that is considered right for us to read by the people who are in charge of media censorship in our country. Apart from this practice being unfair, it leaves most individuals in the possibility of being easily exposed to propaganda.
In the New York Times article, A. Brink mentioned that:
One, cynically named the protection of information bill, would give the government excessively broad powers to classify information in the “national interest”, the other, which would create a “media appeals tribunal” to regulate the printed and electronic press, is written in language chillingly reminiscent of that used by the apartheid regime to defend censorship in the ‘70s4.
It appears to me that we are still in the era of dictatorship, where small elite has control over a large number of people; it’s much of an act where we as citizens are restricted to reach only certain boundaries of information which limit our knowledge by a certain percentage. We are still stuck in a tyrannical regime which bears memories of the apartheid era.
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References
Silence in South Africa
Type: Newspaper Article
Author: André Brink
Publication: The New York Times
Date: September 11, 2010
Section: Opinion
ISSN: 0362-4331
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/opinion/12brink.html
Accessed: 17 September 2010 11:15:28 AM
Library Catalog: NYTimes.com
Date Added: 17 September 2010 11:15:28 AM
Modified: 17 September 2010 11:15:28 AM
The Press: Censorship in South Africa
Type: Magazine Article
Abstract
The South African government, harassed by taut racial tensions, is as sensitive as a naked nerve to everything that affects South Africa, including what its people read. The Malan government...
Publication: Time
Date: November 12, 1951
ISSN: 0040-718X
Short Title: The Press
URL: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889285,00.html
Accessed: 17 September 2010 10:48:34 AM
Library Catalog: Time.com
Date Added: 17 September 2010 10:48:34 AM
Modified: 17 September 2010 10:48:34 AM
FIFA World Cup 2010: Is FIFA Justified in Allowing North Korea To Compete?
Type: Newspaper Article
Author: Dan Treadway
Publication: Bleacher Report
URL: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/409122-world-cup-2010-is-fifa-justified-in-allowing-north-korea-to-compete
Date Added: 24 August 2010 01:42:40 PM
Modified: 24 August 2010 01:43:25 PM
Notes:
The Government of North Korea recruited people to be fans in the 2010 FIFA World Cup that took place in South Africa. Since we (me and my team) are covering a story based on the Government and Media Censorship in North Korea, this article will show what was happening in North Korea while most countries in the world were enjoying the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
North Korea Tops Media Censorship List
Type: Newspaper Article
Author: Judy Aita
Publication: Washington File United Nations Correspondent
Place: United States of America
URL: http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2006/May/20060502164318atiayduj0.5161707.html
Date Added: 24 August 2010 01:27:37 PM
Modified: 24 August 2010 01:29:34 PM
Notes:
North Korea practices more media censorship than any other country in the world. This article shows the measures that are taken by countries like North Korea which practice media censorship at the maximum level. It further teaches about the consequences that are suffered by sources like television channels and journalists that oppose the government through media.
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