Censor and sensibility: A content analysis of the television censor's comments |
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| Authors: | Charles Winick |
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| Institution: | 1. Research psychologist, taught and conducted research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Columbia University;2. Research psychologist, taught and conducted research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , New York University |
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| Abstract: | The position of network censor, whatever the title appended to the job, is one of particular sensitivity. To the industry as a whole, he acts to forstall the program material that could cause criticism of the network, station, sponsor or program. A writer who feels that his work has been needlessly mutilated has a different conception of the role of the network censor. The public is largely unaware of his existence. The pamphlet by the author of the present article, Taste and the Censor in Television (published by the Fund for the Republic, 1959, as an Occasional Paper on the role of the mass media in the free society), was the first major attempt to define the place of the censor. Another article of interest was George Gerbner's “Mental Illness on Television: A Study of Censorship” (Journal of Broadcasting, Vol. III, No. 4, Fall, 1959.) The article that follows is intended to convey the flavor of the censor's work, and provide an adequate introduction to this important phase of broadcasting self‐regulation and management. It is possibly the only study of the broadcasting executive as a decision‐maker. As such, it should be of extreme interest to anyone in the creative and the business ends of broadcasting. |
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