The Effect of Censorshipo Laws on Media Freedom in Enya

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[pic] UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION NAME: PRISCA K. BEYO REG NO: K50/74633/2014 COURSE TITLE: RESEARCH METHODS COURSE CODE: KCS 605 COURSE INSTRUCTOR: DR ELIAS MOKUA QUESTION: The effect of Censorship laws on media freedom in Kenya Submitted on December 18th, 2014 CHAPTER ONE 1.1 Background to the study Censorship is termed as the suppression of speech or any other communication which may be considered objectionable, sensitive or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet or any other controlling body (Robertson & Andrew, 1990).The suppression may include all or part of a published or broadcast material. In modern times censorship refers to the examination of books and periodicals, plays, films, television and radio programmes, news reports and other communication media for the purpose of altering or suppressing parts thought to be objectionable or offensive .The objectionable material may be considered immoral, Obscene, heretical, blasphemous, seditious, treasonable or injurious if disseminated to the public. In some parts of the world the government controls the media. This means that no one can broadcast or publish anything a government considers immoral or harmful, or that threatens the Country’s stability. The media plays a central role in bringing information to our attention and then placing it in some context and offering interpretations for it (Gibbons, 1991:1). The media are able to contribute, therefore, to our understanding of what is normal and deviant, acceptable and unacceptable. A free media is Critical to the ability of the people to exercise their fundamental right of expression and to be fully informed about developments in their society be they political, social, and economic or
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