It did not really surprise me that a writer's hand was cut off for voicing an opinion in conflict with a governmental viewpoint. the battle for free information is still being fought for today. the battlefield for this conflict is a service that I use almost daily, that being the video streaming website YouTube. The way most Youtubers' make their money is through ads on videos they post this process is called monetization. a video can become demonetized if it is not deemed advertiser friendly based on the content of the video. if you look at TV these regulations are not unheard of, however there is one reason that a video would no longer be able to make money is worrisome "controversial or sensitive subjects or events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies, even if graphic imagery is not shown" this is from a video by Philip DeFranco discussing the topic. his channel is a news and he did have a lot of videos flagged. this can be construed as a form of censorship. if a company determines what is considered acceptable content and then takes a person ability to financially support themselves. which would result in them having to either stop producing their content or change it. as the modern news outlets regularly produce a biased filled news that is geared to enrage its target audience against opposing viewpoints. the one quote I found relevant from our readings was " English political news began to circulate in large quantities...,feeding a growing appetite for unofficial sources of news" (86) yes, there is a lot of wrong information on the internet, however when the "official" news sources can not release story without it pushing a political agenda while getting paid to do so. on the other side of the coin when an independent creator tries to be a moderate as possible when addressing rough subject matter they get punished for it. granted, there should be some moderation in what is posted online, but not so much that it could possibly take away someones ability to make a living.
Josh -- Interesting comments on how this battle is played out today on YouTube. I appreciate your brief attempt to make a connection with the content of the reading, but I'd like you to make more of an effort in that direction. Could you tell us more---and in more detail---about how this reading helped you understand the history of the issue? Why did censorship become so important at particular time in history. How was it justified? What did the censors expect to happen? How did the distributors of information react and respond? What did this historical period teach us about this battle?
It's fine to make connections to the present day, but don't forget to demonstrate the depth of your reading of the actual assigned article.
Grade: 1
Posted by: Dr. M | October 04, 2016 at 11:31 AM