Mediaboss Marketing

Media censorship takes many forms in the way you get your news. While news stories are often edited for length, there are many choices that are made that are designed to keep some information from becoming public. Sometimes these decisions are made to safeguard a person's privacy, others to protect media outlets from corporate or political fallout.

This is probably the least controversial form of media censorship.

When a minor commits a crime, his identity is concealed to protect him from future harm -- so he isn't turned down from getting a college education or a job. That changes if a minor is charged as an adult, like in the case of violent crime.

Most media outlets also conceal the identity of rape victims, so those people don't have to endure public humiliation. That was not the case for a brief period at NBC News, when it decided in 1991 to identify the woman accusing William Kennedy Smith (part of the powerful Kennedy clan) of raping her. NBC later reverted to the common practice of secrecy.

Every day, someone commits a heinous act of violence or sexual depravity. In newsrooms across the country, editors have to decide whether saying a victim "was assaulted" suffices in describing what happened.

In most instances, it does not. So a choice has to be made on how to describe the details of a crime in a way that helps the audience understand its atrocity without offending readers or viewers, especially children.

It's a fine line. In the case of Jeffrey Dahmer, the way he killed more than a dozen people was considered so sick that the graphic details were part of the story.

That was also true when news editors were faced with the sexual details of Pres. Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky and the accusations of sexual harassment Anita Hill made about then-U.S.

Supreme Court justice nominee Clarence Thomas. Words that no editor had ever thought of printing or a newscaster had ever considered uttering were necessary to explain the story.

Those are the exceptions. In most cases, editors will cross out information of an extremely violent or sexual nature, not to sanitize the news, but to keep from offending the audience.

The U.S. military, intelligence and diplomatic operations function with a certain amount of secrecy. That confidentiality is regularly challenged by whistleblowers, anti-government groups or others who want to remove the lid on various aspects of U.S. government.

In 1971, The New York Times published what's commonly called the Pentagon Papers, secret Defense Department documents detailing the problems of American involvement in the Vietnam War in ways the media had never reported. The Nixon administration went to court in a failed attempt to keep the leaked documents from being published.

Decades later, WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange are under fire for posting more than a quarter million secret U.S.

documents, many involving national security. When The New York Times published these U.S. State Department papers, the U.S. Air Force responded by blocking the newspaper's website from its computers.

These examples show that media owners face a difficult relationship with the government. When they approve stories containing potentially embarassing information, government officials often try to censor it.

Media companies are supposed to serve the public interest. Sometimes that's at odds with the conglomerate owners who control traditional media voices.

Such was the case when The New York Times reported that executives from MSNBC owner General Electric and Fox News Channel owner News Corporation decided it wasn't in their corporate interests to allow on-air hosts Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly to trade on-air attacks. While the jabs seemed mostly personal, there was news that came out of them.

The Times reported that O'Reilly uncovered that General Electric was doing business in Iran. Although legal, G.E. later said it had stopped. A cease-fire between the hosts probably wouldn't have produced that information, which is newsworthy despite the apparent motivation for getting it.

Cable TV giant Comcast faces a unique charge of censorship. Shortly after the Federal Communications Commission approved its takeover of NBC Universal, it hired FCC commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker who had voted for the merger.

While some denounced the move as a conflict of interest, a single tweet is what unleashed Comcast's wrath. A worker at a summer film camp for teenage girls questioned the hiring through Twitter. Comcast responded by yanking $18,000 in funding for the camp.

The company later apologized and offered to restore its contribition. Camp officials say they want to be able to speak freely without being hushed by corporations.

Critics often lambast media for having political bias. While viewpoints on the editorial pages are clear to see, the link between politics and censorship is harder to spot.

The ABC news program Nightline once devoted its broadcast to reading the names of more than 700 U.S. servicemen and women killed in Iraq. What appeared to be a solemn tribute to military sacrifice was interpreted as a politically-motivated, anti-war stunt by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which didn't allow the program to be seen on the seven ABC stations it owned.

Sinclair is the same company that a media watchdog group says called more than 100 members of Congress "censorship advocates" for raising concerns to the FCC about Sinclair's plans to air the film Stolen Honor. That production was blasted for being propaganda against then-presidential candidate John Kerry.

Sinclair responded by saying it wanted to air the documentary after the major networks refused to show it. In the end, bowing to pressure on several fronts, the company aired a revised version that only included parts of the film.

Communist countries that once stopped the free flow of information may have largely disappeared, but even in America censorship issues keep some news from reaching you. With the explosion of citizen journalism and internet platforms, the truth will now have an easier way of getting out.

2016 About, Inc. All rights reserved.

See the original post here:
How Media Censorship Affects the News You See

In March, artist and poet Rupi Kaur uploaded an image to Instagram, depicting Kaur curled up on the bed in sweats and a t-shirt. She's also on her period, and the blood has dripped through her pants onto the sheets. The image was flagged and removed from Instagram -- twice.

thank you Instagram for providing me with the exact response my work was created to critique. you deleted my photo twice...

Posted by Rupi Kaur on Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Kaur responded to the act of censorship on Facebook and Tumblr; her posts on both of these platforms were shared over 11,000 times. "Their patriarchy is leaking. Their misogyny is leaking. We will not be censored," she wrote. Instagram eventually responded, explaining the image was "accidentally removed" -- twice.

The incident speaks to a larger issue, the way women's bodies are sexualized and silenced, shaved and shamed by the mainstream media. We reached out to a group of feminist artists we admire, all of whom use their work to address in some way this so-called "feminine grotesque" -- the conversion of the female body into something monstrous, abnormal, obscene. The artists graciously shared their responses to Kaur's image, and the wider problems surrounding women's bodies online.

Below, 14 other artists respond to the way women's bodies are still judged and muffled in 2015:

1. Ellie Hunter

"It's interesting that Kuar's image would 'violate' Instagram's terms and conditions, when women and women's bodies are violated on social media thousands of times every day."

Ruin Aesthetic, 2014, 60 x 28 x 12 inches, Cement, steel rod, tulle, fabric, and natural dye

"The online world is constantly morphing and updating, and creating new systems of power along the way. While it's positive that Kuar was able to rally enough activists for Instagram to restore her photo, it's so typical of Instagram's hetero-fascist technocracy to sidestep the issue with the excuse that it's removal was a mistake. I'm interested in work that's exploring the so called 'feminine grotesque' as it addresses everyday, low-level anxiety I feel about my inherent attributes as a human woman, despite my constant efforts to counteract this shame. For me, exposing these tensions is a dual gesture of intimacy and of aggression or activism."

2. Katya Grokhovsky

"There is a clear message here: cover it up, erase it, shut up, be pretty and clean, dont show us you are a human woman. In fact, we prefer you were a hairless, ageless, oh-so-cool-sexy, tiny, easily-manipulated, shiny machine-object, not a visceral, bleeding, odor-and-noise-and-fluids-producing, food-needing, bathroom-going, valuable, capable, ambitious, smart, emotion-and pain-feeling, gloriously human being."

Katya Grokhovsky, One Fine Day, 2014, photo Yan Gi Cheng

"The issue of censorship of womens bodies in general makes me VERY ANGRY. Bear with me, as I clear my thoughts, whilst scampering around the block, amidst the smoke fumes spattering out of my scorching volcano of fury, quickly filling up my breathing space. The persistent, relentless, frightening removal of the reality of womens bodies by the media and society at large is simply another tool of misogynistic oppression. Thank you for your work, Rupi Kaur. This is important, and we need to consistently bring this problem to light. Ruthlessly. Please excuse me, as I lie down, due to another volatile bout of extreme, nauseating patriarchy fatigue. "

3. Marilyn Minter

"The culture industry creates these impossible robotic ideals through Photoshopping and editing the human body. I think what Rupi Kaur and others are doing is really kind of a punk rebellion against these images, and it's about time."

"I think the work of Rupi Kaur and Petra Collins, as well as anyone else who's work is involved in the feminine grotesque, is a backlash to the cultural ideal that is perpetuated on women, especially young women. The culture industry creates these impossible robotic ideals through Photoshopping and editing the human body. I think what Rupi Kaur and others are doing is really kind of a punk rebellion against these images, and it's about time. This type of work is an important counterweight to the images we're inundated with every day."

4. Rhiannon Schneiderman

"Why is everyone still so terrified of vaginas?"

"I've always loved period-themed photographs. I just love having that mutual understanding with another woman of 'holy shit, my body does this, we are superior!' To have that connection with the earth, that natural rhythm -- that's a pretty big fucking deal. These women, like Rupi Kaur, are recognizing that cycle and how important it is and how powerful they are for experiencing it. For Instagram to remove those images is over the effing top -- I've seen blood before, I've definitely seen it on Instagram. How can you censor blood? Because the implication is that it fell out of someone's vagina? Really?? Then maybe you should censor newborn babies, too. Why is everyone still so terrified of vaginas? I hope Rupi fights this, because it's bullshit. And if she needs help, give her my contact info."

5. Rebecca Morgan

"I think the larger scope of the problem comes with the long held taboos of women's bodies and menstruation, seeing them as something dirty we should hide or be ashamed of. The problem is a societal one."

Show Off, 2014 Ink on vellum 12.75 x 11

"There is a lot of creative freedom for women artists within our often insular art world; some of the most challenging and interesting work that is being made on both large and small scale is being made by women artists, some even using the language of femininity, craft, gender roles and subverting and reclaiming it. It's a powerful and exciting thing to see. [...] It is when images like Rupi and Prabh Kaur's reach the masses that the subjugating and stigmatizing of women is so glaringly obvious and discouraging. The photographs serve as examples reminding women that they have a voice, a vision and a mark to leave, as well as a reminder that they have nowhere to leave it, and no ears to listen. The more that images like Rupi Kaur's cross over with social and mainstream media and the more this conversation is articulated publicly, the more normalized and de-stigmatized the female body will hopefully be."

6. Carolee Schneemann

"Many cultures have envied or demonized this bleeding, which is not of an injury, but rather embodies the power of maternity."

Blood Work Diary (Detail), 1972 Menstrual Blottings on Tissue, Five 29x23 Panels. Photo by Anthony McCall. Courtesy of the Artist.

"'Blood Work Diary' [seen above] was a 1972 sequence of menstrual blottings which established the structural form of a fluid physiological process. Through their repetition I developed a visual continuum which charted the permutation of this bleeding over time. Menstruation is often subject to overflow, noting the commonality of menstrual occurrence, women would tell each other, 'Once again, Ive just left my mark!' Many cultures have envied or demonized this bleeding, which is not of an injury, but rather embodies the power of maternity. Profound taboos sustain traditions of cultural revulsion, which attempt to make womens biology the site of shame."

7. Melanie Bonajo

"Perhaps I have become lost in a world so technologically advanced and impersonal that, without me noticing, we reached the point where nobody is born naked anymore."

"As [I am] so often censored, flagged and deleted after showing a naked female body -- which for me speaks of nothing more then trust and innocence, humor, play -- the only thing I can add for now is: We are taught there is nothing more normal to watch than executions which look like they are produced by Hollywood's best production teams without blinking an eye, while at the same time we need to be protected from the sight of a nipple, because such a thing can shock us so greatly we might end up on the psychiatric couch. All this just raises one question to me. Perhaps I have become lost in a world so technologically advanced and impersonal that, without me noticing, we reached the point where nobody is born naked anymore."

8. Audrey Wollen

"I think there is something very powerful about being labeled monstrous. Perhaps an alternative feminist strategy might be to reframe Instagram's censorship as a positive thing -- because it reveals the point at which we exceed the limits of the status quo."

"I think the censorship of certain parts of women's bodies [...] is complicated, because our initial reaction is to insist on the 'naturalness' of those parts, to insist on our own normalcy. We end up begging to be assimilated. But I think there is something very powerful about being labeled monstrous. Perhaps an alternative feminist strategy might be to reframe Instagram's censorship as a positive thing -- because it reveals the point at which we exceed the limits of the status quo. Instagram (and other social media) is an inherently normalizing, policing force and our exclusion from that is a sign that the female body still has the ability to horrify, to disrupt. Our very existence, in its unedited, embodied form, is threatening, and I think that is something to revel in, rather than resist."

9. Zhu Tian

"I think my work says better than I."

Babe, 2013, Rubber, human hair, pigment

10. Lessa Millet

"People need to keep speaking up about their Facebooks being shut down, or their images being flagged, to encourage others to ask questions about who is deciding what is 'offensive,' and inspire conversations about how that reflects on our society."

"Both women and art have been censored for centuries. But now, because of the internet -- and the fact that we have access to multiple channels of communication where we can share our thoughts -- we are able to bring attention to who is censoring us and what is being censored. People need to keep speaking up about their Facebooks being shut down, or their images being flagged, to encourage others to ask questions about who is deciding what is 'offensive,' and inspire conversations about how that reflects on our society. To me, one of the fundamental functions of art is precisely that: starting conversations, asking challenging questions, and helping us understand the society and moment we live in. I dont think censorship is going to disappear, but neither are people going to stop fighting it and standing up for our freedom of expression."

11. Kenya (Robinson) -- as CHEEKY LaSHAE

"Thats how you can tell someone is a feminine. Period. Oh, and birthing a baby, who, not coincidentally, also has a powder named after them, an honor that is shared with foot."

CHEEKY LaSHAE + The Red Bath Mat, Performance at Mike Shultis Studio, Photo by: Jackson Ray Petty, 2014

"I suppose CHEEKY should be up in box about the Instagram reaction to period blood poetics. CHEEKY prefers to turn the focus on itself -- reminiscing about its own menarche -- which actually looked like melted chocolate in the crotch of its pantydraws. Having mistaken those first cramps for diarrhea, made for a temporarily confusing discovery. Fortunately, Mama LaSHAE had prepared young CHEEKY with a toolbox of all things menstruation - tampons, flightless pads, ibuprofen, vaginal (b)itch cream, disposable douches, moist towelettes, newspaper (for disposal) and, of course, feminine powder -- because CHEEKY was most certainly a feminine now. Cause of the period. Thats how you can tell someone is a feminine. Period. Oh, and birthing a baby, who, not coincidentally, also has a powder named after them, an honor that is shared with foot."

12. Casey Jenkins

"The reality is that no one censors dominant cultures, no one censors the most powerful and prevalent points of view -- they're the ones who censorship panders to and minorities and those less powerful just have to cop it while having their own expressions silenced."

"In theory I'm all for people having the choice to either view or avoid viewing whatever they choose. A whole plethora of things might be triggering and traumatic for people and giving advance notice about the nature of content about to be viewed seems to be a considerate and humane thing to do. There are certainly days when I would rather be prepared before having the visages of either of the leaders of the major political parties in my country slapped in my face, or endless reports about male-dominated sports, all of which I find offensive and depressing. The reality is though that no one censors dominant cultures, no one censors the most powerful and prevalent points of view -- they're the ones who censorship panders to and minorities and those less powerful just have to cop it while having their own expressions silenced.

"All of this just perpetuates and strengthens the positions of already powerful cultural norms. Recently the news report of my 'Casting Off My Womb' performance work, posted to YouTube by TV station SBS2 as 'Vaginal Knitting', had restrictions around it tightened and it's now available for viewing only to those 18 years or older (this is after almost 6.5 million views though so it's probably fair to say that ship has sailed). Most other news reports about the piece had big 'Warning!' banners plastered across them also and I'd be curious to hear exactly what it was that self-appointed censors considered so potentially harmful about the piece -- the fleeting shot of my pubic hair? The stain of my menstrual blood? [...] When artwork is wrapped in a censorship banner people gear themselves up for horror and tend to see what they're primed to, rather than what it actually there."

13. Jenny Sharaf

"Politics aside, this is pretty good marketing on Rupi Kaur's part. People aren't usually writing about poems and period art in the breaking news category."

14. Doreen Garner

"The idea of feminine and grotesque in the negative sense existing as a combined term encourages us to despise biological truths regarding physical progress into womanhood which includes pubic hair, stains, menstrual blood, secretions, and other pungent qualities."

The Observatory, 2014, Video, Hour Performance inside Glass Box

"Originally, grotesque as a 15th century term is a style of elaborate curves and decorative elements of paintings found in the ruins of Roman caves or grottoes. Today we use it to describe qualities of a person place or object that is repulsive, strange or disgusting. Grotesque as a descriptive element functions in a space of perversion which is simultaneously occupied by my creative practice. The feminine grotesque is a term that I am very much confused by as a woman and as an artist. Constructed by White American misogyny, the idea of feminine and grotesque in the negative sense existing as a combined term encourages us to despise biological truths regarding physical progress into womanhood which includes pubic hair, stains, menstrual blood, secretions, and other pungent qualities. All of which coexist with publicly embraced signifiers of beauty."

See original here:
15 Feminist Artists Respond To The Censorship Of Women's ...

Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment. Article 3, Library Bill of Rights

Fighting censorship and limited access to materials is an integral part of a librarians mission and job description. Launched in 1982, Banned Books Week is the national book communitys annual celebration of the freedom to read. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since then. The following articles include School Library Journals news coverage of challenged books, interviews with oft-banned authors, and tools for showcasing censored titles during Banned Books Week, and all year.

Features and Interviews About Banned and Challenged Books

Teaching With Graphic NovelsBy Brigid Alverson

While graphic novels are increasingly used as teaching tools, their strong imagery can be a double-edged sword.

Resources for Teaching Graphic Novels in the Classroom By Brigid Alverson, Robin Brenner, and Eva Volin

Good stuff: ten great graphic novels for schools; online resources; information about publishers; and other recommended reading.

10 Frequently Challenged Graphic Novels | Banned Books WeekBy Brigid Alverson, Robin Brenner, and Eva Volin

To kick off Banned Books Week 2014celebrating graphic novelsSLJ presents a list of 10 frequently challenged titles in this format.

Graphic Novels a Gateway to Adult Literacy, Claims Study By Gary Price

Graphic novels and video games have become integral to library collections, and both media can have a large impact on circulation, according to a University of South Florida study. Moreover, readership stats bolster the concept of graphic novels as a gateway to adult literacy.

What You Should Know About Banned Websites Awareness Day, September 24 By Michelle Luhtala

As part of the American Library Associations (ALA) Banned Books Week campaign to raise awareness about the impact of censorship on intellectual freedom, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) also celebrates Annual Banned Websites Awareness Day.

NYPL Censorship Salon Focuses on Self-Censorship, Book Rating Trend By Mahnaz Dar

The speakers at the New York Public Library (NYPL) Childrens Literary Salon, This Censorious World: Books for Children and Their Challenges discussed pressing censorship issues surrounding childrens literature, from self-censorship by authors and librarians to schools that rate titles for appropriateness.

Intellectual Freedom 101: Strategies for School LibrariesBy Karyn M. Peterson

Among the dozens of concurrent learning sessions at the 2013 American Association of School Librarians National Conference, a popular theme was that of intellectual freedom.

Banned Books Week: Celebrate the Right to Read By Karyn M. Peterson

Banned Books Week is an annual opportunity during the last week of September for librarians and other freedom fighters to celebrate banned and challenged books, shine a spotlight on censorship, and honor those heroes working for open access to materials and the right to read for all. See how librarians around the country mark the occasion.

ALA to Spotlight Banned Books Week Heroes During Virtual Read-Out By SLJ Staff

The American Library Association (ALA) and readers from around the world are demonstrating their support for free speech from September 22-28 by participating in a Virtual Read-Out of their favorite banned and challenged books. The event will serve as the backdrop for the announcement of ALAs Banned Books Week Heroes, honoring those people and groups who stand up for intellectual freedom and the right to read.

A Dirty Little Secret: Self-Censorship By Debra Lau Whelan

Self-censorship is rampant and lethal. Its a dirty secret that no one in the profession wants to talk about or admit practicing. Yet everyone knows some librarians bypass good booksthose with literary merit or that fill a need in their collections. The reasons range from a books sexual content and gay themes to its language and violenceand it happens in more public and K12 libraries than you think.

SLJ Self-Censorship Survey By Debra Lau Whelan

To gain a better understanding of collection development and the issue of self-censorship, School Library Journal conducted an anonymous survey, which was emailed to 5,438 of SLJs Extra Helping subscribers on November 18, 2008. The survey closed on December 2, 2008.

Ellen Hopkins, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, and Chris Finan are Honored for their Roles Battling Literary Censorship By Rocco Staino New York Times-bestselling author Ellen Hopkins, Newbery medalist Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, and First Amendment activist Chris Finan were all recognized by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) on November 12 for their work defending free speech.

A Killer Story: An Interview with Suzanne Collins, Author of The Hunger Games

By Rick Margolis SLJ interviews Suzanne Collins, author of the blockbuster young adult novel series, The Hunger Games, which continuously makes it on ALAs most frequently challenged books.

NCAC Film Fest Celebrates Free Expression By Mahnaz Dar

A host of teen filmmakers were on hand at the New York Film Academy for Youth Voices Uncensored, a screening of the winners of The National Coalition Against Censorships Youth Free Expression Projects film contest, which tackled the topic of book banning.

What to Do When Kids Arent Allowed to Read Digital Books in School By Kathy Ishizuka Pat Scales, chair of the American Library Associations Intellectual Freedom Committee and SLJ columnist, regularly fields questions on banned library materials. But this is the first Ive encountered in which a books format has been censored, she writes.

Editor Marks Banned Books Week by Being Locked Up at Vonnegut Memorial Library By Lauren Barack

The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library is expecting an unusual window display starting September 30writer and editor Corey Michael Dalton plans to mark Banned Books Week by camping out there to demonstrate the value of our freedom to read.

Interview: Why Lauren Myracles Proud to Top ALAs List of Most Challenged Books By Debra Lau Whelan

On the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week, an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read, SLJ talks with bestselling author Lauren Myracle, who ranked number one on the American Library Associations top 10 most frequently challenged books in 2011 and 2009and who also made the list in 2008 and 2007.

The Naked Truth: Librarians Stood By Maurice Sendak, No Stranger to Controversy By Kathleen T. Horning

Former ALA President and current director of the Cooperative Childrens Book Center of the School of Education, Kathleen T. Horning celebrates the librarians that stood up to intended censorship of Maurice Sendaks In the Night Kitchen.

News Coverage on Banned and Challenged Books

Texas Pastor Attempts to Ban Twilight from Austin Memorial Library By Mahnaz Dar

A Texas pastor attempted to have 75 paranormal YA titles, including Twilight, removed from the Austin Memorial Library on the basis that they are inappropriate for young people.

Gay Penguin Book Allowed to Remain in Singapore LibrariesBy Carolyn Sun

The National Library Board in Singapore (NLB) announced that all copies of the childrens books And Tango Makes Three, among others, have not only been banned from the states collections, but would be pulped due to the books themes of homosexuality.

Request to Ban Two Boys Kissing from Virginia High School Library DeniedBy Sandy Chung

On April 23, Virginias Fauquier County Public Schools held a review and public hearing to consider a parents appeal to remove David Levithans Two Boys Kissingan LGBTQ-themed bookfrom the school districts libraries. The board voted a unanimous decision to keep the title in the school districts libraries.

Idahos Meridian School District Votes to Keep Hold on The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time IndianBy Carolyn Sun

According to the Idaho Statesman on April 2, Idahos Meridian County School Board voted 2-1 to continue the hold on Sherman Alexies The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, keeping it off the school curriculums supplemental book list.

North Carolina School Board Decides to Keep The House of SpiritsBy Carolyn Sun

On February 27, North Carolinas Watauga County School Board voted, 3-2, to keep Isabel Allendes The House of Spirits in the sophomore honors English curriculum.

Poetry Book by Teens Removed from Arizona SchoolBy Lauren Barack

Sixth and seventh graders in the Mesa Public Schools will have to trek to their local library or high school to read Things I Have to Tell You, a collection of poems by teenagers that has been removed from the junior high school libraries in this Arizona community.

Reading, PA, Students Protest Classroom Library ProbeBy Lauren Barack

Middle school students in Reading, PA, created an online petition in December 2013 to protest what they see as unjust scrutiny of their classroom libraries.

NY District Returns Nasreens Secret School to Third Grade ClassroomsBy Lauren Barack

In the Southold (NY) Union Free School District, third graders can continue to hear the story of a young girls experience under Taliban rule, as told in Jeanette Winters book, Nasreens Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, even after a question about its appropriateness was raised in a school board meeting in October 2013.

Library Advocates File Brief to Challenge Arizonas Ethnic Studies BanBy Karyn M. Peterson

The nonprofit Freedom to Read Foundation, joined by key library and learning advocates, on November 25, 2013 filed an amicus brief with the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Arce v. Huppenthal, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of an Arizona statute that bans ethnic studies.

Rainbow Rowells Eleanor & Park Retained in Minnesota High SchoolBy Karyn M. Peterson

A review committee at Minnesotas Anoka High School agreed to retain Rainbow Rowells lauded young adult novel Eleanor & Park in its school library, despite a complaint from a parent who had partnered with the conservative Parents Action League to challenge the book.

Gaimans Neverwhere Returned to New Mexico High School ClassroomsBy Karyn M. Peterson

Neil Gaimans bestselling urban fantasy novel Neverwhere has been restored to the curriculum at New Mexicos Alamogordo High School, ending a temporary suspension due to a parental challenge.

Golden Domes Picture Book Causes Stir at Scholastic Book FairBy Shelley Diaz

A parent in Marietta, GA, lodged a complaint with his local school board about the inclusion of Hena Khans picture book Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors at his daughters Scholastic Book Fair on October 17. Thomas Prisock claims that the book is an indoctrination of Muslim culture.

NC School Board Reverses Ban on Ellisons Invisible Man

By SLJ Staff

The Randolph County (NC) Board of Education has voted to restore Ralph Ellisons classic novel Invisible Man to school library shelves by a vote of 6 to 1, reversing its earlier ban of the book. This ban which took place in mid-September 2013 received international attention from literary advocates.

Atwoods Handmaids Tale Retained in Guilford County (NC) High Schools

By SLJ Staff

Margaret Atwoods award-winning dystopian novel The Handmaids Tale will remain accessible to 12th graders in Guilford, NC, high school libraries, following a local school board vote to retain the book on its suggested reading list.

NCAC: School Visits Nixed for Medina, Rowell

By SLJ Staff

Planned school visits by YA authors Meg Medina and Rainbow Rowell set to coincide with Banned Books Week (September 22 to 28) have been cancelled due to local challenges over the content of their acclaimed books, the National Coalition Against Censorship reports.

Morrisons Bluest Eye Joins Wide Range of Books Challenged in Alabama Schools By Sarah Bayliss and Karyn M. Peterson

Toni Morrisons acclaimed novel The Bluest Eye could become the latest in a wide range of books that have been officially challenged in Alabamas 132 school districts in recent years, if State Senator Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison, has his way.

Alexies True Diary Removed from NYC Schools Summer Reading List

By Shelley Diaz

The inclusion of Sherman Alexies acclaimed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on a required summer reading list for sixth graders has raised the ire of a group of parents in Belle Harbor, NY, who have successfully called for its removal, the Daily News has reported.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Restored to IL Classrooms By SLJ Staff

Steven Chboskys epistolary coming-of-age tale The Perks of Being a Wallflower is being restored to eighth-grade classrooms in Glen Ellyn District 41, a suburb of Chicago, following a recent challenge over concerns about the books sexual content and explicit language.

YA Books Remain on School Library Shelves After Yakima, WA, Challenges By Karyn M. Peterson Two very different young adult booksthe first volume of Amy Ignatows lively graphic novel series The Popularity Papers and Dave Pelzers harrowing memoir A Child Called Itwill both remain on school library shelves in the Prosser school district in Yakima, WA, following several school board votes on the titles.

Michigan School District Rejects Parents Challenge to Anne Franks Diary

By Marta Murvosh

A Michigan parents complaint that Anne Franks The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition is too frank for middle schoolers and should be replaced with an older, expurgated edition has been rejected by the local school board.

Persepolis Restored to Chicago School Libraries; Classroom Access Still Restricted

By Karyn M. Peterson

After a directive by Chicago Public Schools to restrict student access for all grades below 11 to Marjane Satrapis Persepolis, CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett quickly issued a memo clarifying that the graphic novel should remain on library shelves. However, educators remain wary about the classroom restrictions, prompting the ALAs Associations Office for Intellectual Freedom and the Freedom to Read Foundation to respond.

Polaccos In Our Mothers House Restored to Utah School Library Shelves

By SLJ Staff

Patricia Polaccos In Our Mothers House, an acclaimed picture book about a family with two mothers, is finally back on K6 school library shelves in Utahs Davis School District, more than eight months after a committee pulled the book and restricted its access.

ACLU Files Suit Against Utah School District for Removing Polaccos In Our Mothers House from General Circulation By Sarah Bayliss The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation has filed suit against a Utah school district that removed In Our Mothers House, a picture book about a family with two mothers from school library shelves.

And Tango Makes Three Tops Most Challenged List, Again By SLJ Staff

And Tango Makes Three (2005), the true story of two male penguins who hatch and parent a baby chick at New Yorks Central Park Zoo, tops the list of the most frequently challenged books of 2010, according to the American Library Associations (ALA) State of Americas Libraries Report, which documents challenges and trends in library usage.

Ban on John Greens Looking for Alaska Sparks Anger By Lauren Barack A Tennessee school district banned John Greens award-winning novel Looking for Alaska (Dutton, 2005) from the school curriculum. Jeremy Johnson, spokesperson for Sumner County Schools, where the book was pulled, says Were not using it in the curriculum, but it will still be used in the libraries.

Andersons Speak Under Attack, Again By Rocco Staino Wesley Scroggins, an associate professor of management at Missouri State University, is cautioning parents of the Republic School District against what he refers to as soft porn books used in the curriculum, including Speak, which is about rape. School Library Journal spoke to author Laurie Halse Anderson about the controversy.

Blogs and Columns

Scales on Censorship By Pat Scales

In a bimonthly column, Chair of the American Library Associations Intellectual Freedom (ALA OIF) Committee Pat Scales responds to questions about book banning, equal access for all students, and why reporting materials challenges to the ALA OIF is so important.

Roundtable: Should Parents Limit Comics Reading? By Esther Keller

Limit comics reading to only one day a week? Are reading comics and prose equal? Are comics real reading? In an article titled Why My Daughter Isnt Allowed to Read Comics, Jonathan Liu at GeekDad posted that he and his wife have limited their daughters comics reading to one day a week to ensure she would pick up some prose novels. As a mix of parents, librarians, and educators, we thought wed join the discussion.

Roundtable: Removing Persepolis from Chicago classrooms | Good Comics for Kids By Brigid Alverson

The recent removal of Marjane Satrapis Persepolis from some classrooms in the Chicago Public schools attracted a lot of attention. Although it first appeared that all the books were being removed, it turned out that the school district had had second thoughts about teaching it to seventh-graders, largely because of a single page depicting torture. For this roundtable, two of Good Comics for Kids bloggers who have expertise in working with tweens and teens chime in.

Excerpt from:
SLJs Resources On Banned Books and Censorship | School ...

Censorship, the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive," happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. Censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups. Censorship by the government is unconstitutional.

In contrast, when private individuals or groups organize boycotts against stores that sell magazines of which they disapprove, their actions are protected by the First Amendment, although they can become dangerous in the extreme. Private pressure groups, not the government, promulgated and enforced the infamous Hollywood blacklists during the McCarthy period. But these private censorship campaigns are best countered by groups and individuals speaking out and organizing in defense of the threatened expression.

American society has always been deeply ambivalent about these questions. On the one hand, our history is filled with examples of overt government censorship, from the 1873 Comstock Law to the 1996 Communications Decency Act. On the other hand, the commitment to freedom of imagination and expression is deeply embedded in our national psyche, buttressed by the First Amendment, and supported by a long line of Supreme Court decisions.

The Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment's protection of artistic expression very broadly. It extends not only to books, theatrical works and paintings, but also to posters, television, music videos and comic books -- whatever the human creative impulse produces.

Two fundamental principles come into play whenever a court must decide a case involving freedom of expression. The first is "content neutrality"-- the government cannot limit expression just because any listener, or even the majority of a community, is offended by its content. In the context of art and entertainment, this means tolerating some works that we might find offensive, insulting, outrageous -- or just plain bad.

The second principle is that expression may be restricted only if it will clearly cause direct and imminent harm to an important societal interest. The classic example is falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater and causing a stampede. Even then, the speech may be silenced or punished only if there is no other way to avert the harm.

SEX SEXUAL SPEECH Sex in art and entertainment is the most frequent target of censorship crusades. Many examples come to mind. A painting of the classical statue of Venus de Milo was removed from a store because the managers of the shopping mall found its semi-nudity "too shocking." Hundreds of works of literature, from Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, have been banned from public schools based on their sexual content.

A museum director was charged with a crime for including sexually explicit photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe in an art exhibit.

American law is, on the whole, the most speech-protective in the world -- but sexual expression is treated as a second-class citizen. No causal link between exposure to sexually explicit material and anti-social or violent behavior has ever been scientifically established, in spite of many efforts to do so. Rather, the Supreme Court has allowed censorship of sexual speech on moral grounds -- a remnant of our nation's Puritan heritage.

This does not mean that all sexual expression can be censored, however. Only a narrow range of "obscene" material can be suppressed; a term like "pornography" has no legal meaning . Nevertheless, even the relatively narrow obscenity exception serves as a vehicle for abuse by government authorities as well as pressure groups who want to impose their personal moral views on other people.

PORNOGRAPHIC! INDECENT! OBSCENE! Justice John Marshall Harlan's line, "one man's vulgarity is another's lyric," sums up the impossibility of developing a definition of obscenity that isn't hopelessly vague and subjective. And Justice Potter Stewart's famous assurance, "I know it when I see it," is of small comfort to artists, writers, movie directors and lyricists who must navigate the murky waters of obscenity law trying to figure out what police, prosecutors, judges and juries will think.

The Supreme Court's current definition of constitutionally unprotected Obscenity, first announced in a 1973 case called Miller v. California, has three requirements. The work must 1) appeal to the average person's prurient (shameful, morbid) interest in sex; 2) depict sexual conduct in a "patently offensive way" as defined by community standards; and 3) taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

The Supreme Court has held that Indecent expression -- in contrast with "obscenity" -- is entitled to some constitutional protection, but that indecency in some media (broadcasting, cable, and telephone) may be regulated. In its 1978 decision in Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica, the Court ruled that the government could require radio and television stations to air "indecent" material only during those hours when children would be unlikely listeners or viewers. Broadcast indecency was defined as: "language that describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities or organs." This vague concept continues to baffle both the public and the courts.

PORNOGRAPHY is not a legal term at all. Its dictionary definition is "writing or pictures intended to arouse sexual desire." Pornography comes in as many varieties as the human sexual impulse and is protected by the First Amendment unless it meets the definition for illegal obscenity.

VIOLENCE IS MEDIA VIOLENCE A THREAT TO SOCIETY? Today's calls for censorship are not motivated solely by morality and taste, but also by the widespread belief that exposure to images of violence causes people to act in destructive ways. Pro-censorship forces, including many politicians, often cite a multitude of "scientific studies" that allegedly prove fictional violence leads to real-life violence.

There is, in fact, virtually no evidence that fictional violence causes otherwise stable people to become violent. And if we suppressed material based on the actions of unstable people, no work of fiction or art would be safe from censorship. Serial killer Theodore Bundy collected cheerleading magazines. And the work most often cited by psychopaths as justification for their acts of violence is the Bible.

But what about the rest of us? Does exposure to media violence actually lead to criminal or anti-social conduct by otherwise stable people, including children, who spend an average of 28 hours watching television each week? These are important questions. If there really were a clear cause-and-effect relationship between what normal children see on TV and harmful actions, then limits on such expression might arguably be warranted.

WHAT THE STUDIES SHOW Studies on the relationship between media violence and real violence are the subject of considerable debate. Children have been shown TV programs with violent episodes in a laboratory setting and then tested for "aggressive" behavior. Some of these studies suggest that watching TV violence may temporarily induce "object aggression" in some children (such as popping balloons or hitting dolls or playing sports more aggressively) but not actual criminal violence against another person.

CORRELATIONAL STUDIES that seek to explain why some aggressive people have a history of watching a lot of violent TV suffer from the chicken-and-egg dilemma: does violent TV cause such people to behave aggressively, or do aggressive people simply prefer more violent entertainment? There is no definitive answer. But all scientists agree that statistical correlations between two phenomena do not mean that one causes the other.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS are no more helpful. Japanese TV and movies are famous for their extreme, graphic violence, but Japan has a very low crime rate -- much lower than many societies in which television watching is relatively rare. What the sudies reveal on the issue of fictional violence and real world aggression is -- not much.

The only clear assertion that can be made is that the relationship between art and human behavior is a very complex one. Violent and sexually explicit art and entertainment have been a staple of human cultures from time immemorial. Many human behavioralists believe that these themes have a useful and constructive societal role, serving as a vicarious outlet for individual aggression.

WHERE DO THE EXPERTS AGREE? Whatever influence fictional violence has on behavior, most expert believe its effects are marginal compared to other factors. Even small children know the difference between fiction and reality, and their attitudes and behavior are shaped more by their life circumstances than by the books they read or the TV they watch. In 1972, the U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior released a 200-page report, "Television and Growing Up: The Impact of Televised Violence," which concluded, "The effect [of television] is small compared with many other possible causes, such as parental attitudes or knowledge of and experience with the real violence of our society." Twenty-one years later, the American Psychological Association published its 1993 report, "Violence & Youth," and concluded, "The greatest predictor of future violent behavior is a previous history of violence." In 1995, the Center for Communication Policy at UCLA, which monitors TV violence, came to a similar conclusion in its yearly report: "It is known that television does not have a simple, direct stimulus-response effect on its audiences."

Blaming the media does not get us very far, and, to the extent that diverts the public's attention from the real causes of violence in society, it may do more harm than good.

WHICH MEDIA VIOLENCE WOULD YOU BAN? A pro-censorship member of Congress once attacked the following shows for being too violent: The Miracle Worker, Civil War Journal, Star Trek 9, The Untouchables, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What would be left if all these kinds of programs were purged from the airwaves? Is there good violence and bad violence? If so, who decides? Sports and the news are at least as violent as fiction, from the fights that erupt during every televised hockey game, to the videotaped beating of Rodney King by the LA Police Department, shown over and over gain on prime time TV. If we accept censorship of violence in the media, we will have to censor sports and news programs.

Follow this link:
What Is Censorship? | American Civil Liberties Union

NCTE Principles for Intellectual Freedom in Education

All students have the right to materials and educational experiences that promote open inquiry, critical thinking, diversity in thought and expression, and respect for others. Denial or restriction of this right is an infringement of intellectual freedom. Toward this end, NCTE encourages school communities to generate, implement, and follow policies and procedures for defending intellectual freedom at the classroom, institution, and system/campus levels to limit and/or address attacks on free expression. Read more . . .

NCTE offers advice, helpful documents, and other support to teachers faced with challenges to texts (e.g. literary works, films and videos, drama productions) or teaching methods used in their classrooms and schools.

There are several ways to report an incident:

Millie Davis, Director, Intellectual Freedom Center

The materials below have been identified by teachers as most useful in preventing and combating censorship.

Students' Right to ReadGives model procedures for responding to challenges, including "Citizen's Request for Reconsideration of a Work."

Guidelines for Selection of Materials in English Language Arts Programs Presents criteria and procedures that ensure thoughtful teacher selection of novels and other materials.

Rationales for Teaching Challenged BooksRich resource section included table of contents of NCTE's Rationales for Commonly Challenged Books CD-ROM, an alphabetical list of other rationales on file, the SLATE Starter Sheet on "How to Write a Rationale," and sample rationales for Bridge to Terabithia and The Color Purple.

Guidelines for Dealing with Censorship of Nonprint MaterialsOffers principles and practices regarding nonprint materials.

Defining and Defending Instructional Methods Gives rationales for various English language arts teaching methods and other defenses against common challenges to them.

Isabel Allendewrites a letter to defend her book The House of the Spirits

Judy Blume has some "Good Words" to share.

Chris Crutchertells us "How They Do It"

NCTE actively began fighting censorship in the 1950's. McCarthyism spurred NCTE to take a more active stance against censorship and, in 1953, NCTE's Committee on Censorship of Teaching Materials published Censorship and Controversy, condemning McCarthy's tactics and championing freedom of thought. In 1962 NCTE published its seminal intellectual freedom guideline The Students' Right to Read, that led to today's active Anti-Censorship program which works with 60-100 educators and school districts a year on challenges to texts used in classrooms. Over these years the Council has voiced its opposition to censorship and promoted intellectual freedom as portrayed in this video clip from the NCTE Centennial Film.

Read more . . .

Read this article:
National Council of Teachers of English Anti-Censorship Center