NEWS MEDIA AGENDA

Agenda - Setting Function of News Media

Agenda - Setting Function of News Media

Introduction

Politically, censorship is the reciprocal of freedom to communicate and is thus as protean as expression itself. It aims to restrict or suppress information or meaning transmitted through symbol. Though censorship is commonly associated with governmental interdiction of speech or press, any symbolic representation — textual, graphic, electronic, or simply embodied in behavior — may be subject to restraint or regulation because of what it is seen to mean. This paper explores the functions of the news media to a presidential campaign in terms of defending or refuting the censorship of war images.

Media played a significant role in recent Presidential Elections 2008. It portrayed the significance of government actions based on the images of war. It highlighted the reality behind the principal approach that past government kept hidden from the pal public. Media news agencies faced critical opposition from the Ministry of State Defense Affairs (Kamber & Arango, 2008). Prior to presidential elections 2008, media presented the facts regarding the performance of former government. This defined the presidential promotional campaign approach of the members participating in the president electoral.

Issues Highlighted by the Media

Censorship has been the norm in news media in most historical periods, and exists in questionable ways in every form today. The two principal categories of censorship concern morality and politics role. Strict censorship on the news media was introduced by Bush government in early 2002 (Kamber & Arango, 2008). The contents and practice of the war images censorship were decided by the leading bodies of the Communist and ruling Parties and exercised by a hierarchical control system. At the top, each Party member maintained a department of its Central Committee apparatus to supervise the media. Auxiliary tools included the power to launch or close down any newspaper or radio/TV station, licensing of journalists through official journalists' unions, and power of appointment. All key editorial positions were held by highly paid party bureaucrats (Harris, 2011).

One official wire service monopolized the supply of political news. In addition, there was a formal censorship institution modeled on the main administration for the protection of official and military secrets. Two representatives of these agencies worked directly in all editorial offices, to ensure that no story and war image could be printed or broadcast without their explicit approval. Among journalists and writers, auto-censorship became a generally accepted practice ...