Media censorship

With another gun rampage dominating the mass media, calls have been renewed for censorship of movies and videos depicting violence, with the claim that there is a link between violent images and subsequent anti-social behaviour.

Censorship of the media is nothing new, and in fact the news media — through television, radio and newspapers — are censored already. It's the censorship we usually don't hear about, unless we know the other side of the story.

Green Left Weekly attempts to give you this other side. There is no doubt whose side the establishment media are on when it comes to an industrial dispute. There is no doubt that information about profits to be gained from oil in the Timor Gap is what hits the news stands, rarely the continuing struggle of the East Timorese people in their fight for self-determination. The mainstream press has enormous power over information, and this power is wielded very consciously.

While the establishment media remain firmly on the side of big business, Green Left Weekly represents the interests of ordinary people working people fighting for better wages and conditions, women demanding equality, indigenous struggles for land rights and the ongoing battle for democracy and justice in the Asia Pacific region.

To be able to continue this coverage, we need your help. Green Left Weekly relies on the support of its readership to survive. By subscribing, you can keep Green Left delivering the news to you and thousands of others who know that the TV and the major newspapers tell only part of the story. See page 7 for details of our current subscription offers. Subscribe to Green Left Weekly it's your paper.

From GLW issue 231