Pornography and violence in the mass media are some of the most debatable and controversial topics in the modern world, especially in countries that tend to believe in the rule of law, democracy and human rights. While citizens is expected to enjoy the right to free media and freedom of speech, the media is the main framework through which violence, pornography and other unethical and illegal activities take place.
Specifically, pornography and media violence mainly target children and the young people, which is most likely to corrupt social morals. On one hand, Canadians need free media to enjoy their rights of free speech as citizens. On the other hand, the society must control pornography and media violence within the law and ethical norms. Therefore, the issue of striking the right balances between providing free media and controlling media violence and pornography is contentious in Canada.
Greenberg and Wilson (2001) developed one of the most comprehensive analyses of the topic focusing on Canada. According to the authors, a lot of information available from research is based on research studies done in the United States but generalized in the two countries. In addition, the authors point out that research on media representation of the young people in Canada only accounts for the disparities that exist between or within the media. To fill the gap, the researchers developed a critical analysis of the problem in Canada based on the concept of âmoral panicâ and a study on the coverage of youth violence in the Canadian media (newspapers).
From a theoretical analysis of the problem of youth violence and media coverage of youth activities, the authors tend to argue that the concept of moral panic exists in Canada. First, they uphold the existing theories of hegemony and ideology. They assert that the Canadian media seems to create or promote youth violence, making it appear as the most critical social problem facing the society. They fail to look at the deeper causes of the problems.
According to the authors, youth crime and moral decline are based on the breaking traditional family units. However, the media suggestion is mainly connected to the conservative discourse about feminine advances and development at the workplace. The media suggest that the absence of women at home leads to moral decline because women are no longer present to teach morals to their children.
In a research on media coverage of youth crime in Canada, the authors found that the media attributes causality to social structural issues at the expense of individual pathologies and problems. The media attempts to create a moral panic but fails to address the deep causes of these problems. In addition, the authors found that the media does not cite possible remedies to the problems.
Brannigan and Hardwick (2001) have attempted to develop an in-depth analysis of pornography and sex crime in the mass media. The authors argue that the media plays an important role in providing gender education, sex education and moral ethics to the target groups, including males, females, youths and the older generations. Nevertheless, the researchers found that the Canadian media also plays an important role in promoting and enhancing pornography and sex crimes, especially among the youths. In fact, the researchers found that the media was the major means of communication that perpetrates these crimes and social pathologies.
Thus, it is evident that the two sets of research work have shown that the media is partly to blame for the declining social morals as well as increasing youth crime in Canada. On the other hand, the analysis reveals that the media is an important tool for promoting youth and gender education on sex, norms and moral values. Therefore, it is clear that a method for striking the right balance between the freedom of expression (via mass media) and the social pathologies of pornography and youth violence is lacking.
References
Brannigan, A., & Hardwick, K. (2001). Pornography in the mass media and the panic over sex crimes in Canada. In C. McKie & B. Singer (Eds.). Communications in Canada society (pp. 298-306). Toronto: Thompson education Publishing.
Greenberg, J., & Wilson, B. (2001). Youth, violence, moral panic and Canadian media: News coverage of school shooting in the United States and Canada. In C. McKie & B. Singer (Eds.). Communications in Canada society (pp. 298-306). Toronto: Thompson education Publishing.