Mediaboss Marketing

Deepesh T. is only one feature film old but he is already feeling the heat of censorship.

As a teacher of drawing at CHMHS, Thillankeri in Kannur, he always exhorts students to speak the truth. The filmmaker in him is no different.

Deepesh is bracing for what seems a long-drawn battle against the finding of the examining committee of the censor board that the content of his latest flick Pithavinum Puthranum (in the name of the Father and the Son) hurts the sentiments of a religious community.

Winner of the best director award in 2007 for his short film Typewriter, Deepesh had won critical acclaim for his debut movie Nakharam starring Ganesh Kumar and Sreelatha.

Made under the banner of Track N Trolley productions, Pithavinum Puthranums cast includes Sunny Wayne, Dhwani, Rajshri Ponnappa, director V. K. Prakash, and art-director Sabu Cyril.

Pithavinum Puthranum is the story of two nuns in a convent. Its a tale of human love. While one nun points towards the shortcomings in the church, the other rejects it. Rumours of the film being inspired by Sr. Jesmes book Amen or the Sr. Abhaya incident are baseless, Deepesh said over telephone from Kannur on Wednesday.

But T.P. Madhukumar, Regional Censor Officer (Kerala), said the examining committee had rejected censor certificate to the film stating that the content violates the guidelines that refer to showing a community in bad light. He said the makers of the movie could approach the revision committee seeking a review of the examination panels decision.

Asked whether the examination committee could have suggested some cuts or deletion of certain dialogues, Mr. Madhukumar said it was impossible, as then nothing would have remained in the work.

Deepesh alleged that the board had approached the movie with a pre-conceived notion that it had something derogatory against a particular community.

I have two questions. By arresting Fr. Thomas Kottur (accused in the Sr. Abhaya murder case), does it mean that they had arrested Jesus Christ? Its a fact that the church has several priests of high calibre and character. Secondly, is it not necessary to show visuals of characters consuming liquor, if I have to show a visual against the use of liquor? How else can a filmmaker narrate a story, he asked.

Read the original here:
Caught in a web of censorship

The West Australian government scuppered the venue booking for a Labor fundraiser featuring Prime Minister Julia Gillard, but claims it was not political censorship.

A new venue was secured after a booking at John Curtin College of the Arts in Fremantle was withdrawn on Tuesday, angering organisers who accused the state government of forcing the public school's decision.

Proceeds from the event will go to political campaigns for Fremantle MP Melissa Parke and the WA Labor Party.

Premier Colin Barnett said his government had not indulged in political censorship, but was involved in the decision to axe the booking after it was advised the event was a political fundraiser.

Mr Barnett said the Education Department's director-general Sharon O'Neill decided it was not appropriate and advised Education Minister Peter Collier, who then checked with the premier.

They all agreed it should not proceed.

"The minister drew it to my attention, I said `that is the right decision'," Mr Barnett told ABC radio on Wednesday.

"The mistake, not intentional, was made by Melissa Parke and her staff."

Ms Parke's spokesman, Josh Wilson, conceded the organisers didn't mention it was a party fundraiser when they advised the government of the event as a courtesy.

Mr Wilson insisted they were not hiding anything.

See the original post:
WA premier denies censorship over PM event

Media Censorship and Police Terror in Turkey
Trkiye #39;deki medya sansr ile ilgili fark #305;ndal #305;k yaratmak iin... Calling for Media Censorship Awareness in Turkey featuring Police Terror...

By: IdelUralState

See the original post here:
Media Censorship and Police Terror in Turkey - Video

LANSING -- A pair of bills pending before the Senate Education Committee would mandate lessons on American history during "Constitution Week" and would prohibit any restrictions on or censorship of America's "founding documents" by school administrators or teachers.

The bills, Senate Bill 120 and Senate Bill 121, will be up for discussion during a committee hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Senate Bill 120 would create a new section of Michigan's school code preventing school boards from prohibiting the reading or studying of "documents that contributed to the foundation or maintenance of America's representative form of limited government, the bill of rights, our free-market economic system, and patriotism."

The bill also prohibits school boards and employees from attempting to "censor or restrain instruction in American history or heritage or Michigan state history or heritage based on religious references in original source documents, writings, speeches, proclamations, or records."

Some conservative commentators, including Phyllis Schlafly, have expressed concern about references to God being "removed" from the Declaration of Independence.

Senate Bill 121 would establish "Constitution Week" as the week between Sept. 11 and Sept. 17 each year to recognize the Sept. 17, 1787, adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Schools would be required to provide instruction on key figures in American history, "limited government," the Constitution and Declaration of Independence and the development of the American flag.

Both bills were introduced by Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton) in late January and referred to the committee.

Brian Smith is the statewide education and courts reporter for MLive. Email him at bsmith11@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

More here:
Banning censorship of historical documents in schools to be considered by Michigan Senate committee

A US judge has given a lawsuit by pro-democracy activists against Baidu and the People's Republic of China new life, even after the country invoked its authority as a sovereign nation to block the censorship case.

US District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan said the activists were entitled to serve their lawsuit on Baidu's lawyer in New York, without infringing China's sovereign protections.

Saying the issue had never been analyzed in detail, Furman on Friday night rejected Baidu's contention that allowing service would turn the part of the Hague Convention that China invoked into a "dead letter" by letting a court circumvent it.

The convention is a multilateral treaty that makes it easier to serve court papers internationally.

In their May 2011 lawsuit, eight New York writers and video producers had accused Baidu and China of conspiring to suppress their political speech from Baidu's search engine, the country's most widely used.

The plaintiffs said the content could be found via search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing, and Google's YouTube. They sought millions of dollars in damages for alleged violations of their First Amendment rights and human rights law.

Furman had dismissed the lawsuit on March 25 but put the dismissal on hold to let the plaintiffs propose another means to serve Baidu.

In giving the plaintiffs another chance to pursue their case, Furman said the Hague Convention was designed to ensure "sufficient" notice to recipients abroad of court documents.

Allowing service in the United States "in a manner that does not call upon China to effect service (in that country) does not override its invocation of its own sovereignty and security; to the contrary, it honors that invocation," the judge wrote.

Carey Ramos, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan representing Baidu, declined to comment.

Follow this link:
Baidu censorship lawsuit gets new life in US