Controversial Television Advertising
Nickolaus King
Axia College of University of Phoenix
COM 120 Effective Persuasive Writing
Garnesha Beck
April 08, 2007
Americans are of two minds when it comes to free and unrestricted media. We stay glued to TV screens when important or sensational stories break. We download material straight from the Internet. We rush to newsstands for printed materials offering more detail and analysis. We tune in and call in to talk shows on radio and TV. Newspaper circulation numbers and television ratings rise dramatically. Yet even as we empty newsstands of newspapers and news magazines, even as we overload our phone and cable lines with Internet chatter, we criticize the very media that bring the news to us. Television advertising promotes freethinking, generates big revenue for the economy, and deserves more liberties.
Censorship by definition is the suppression of published or broadcast material to the public. People have fought and died for the right to hear, read, and see anything and everything that is available. However, our right goes beyond that, we have the full right to publish and broadcast material, even though it is controversial. This is not for pleasure, but for the right of knowledge for us and for the people who would like to learn. The more information we know, the more we know about how to do things right. Creamer (2007) says, “Corporations increasingly find themselves embroiled in worldwide controversies. Simply to sell their wares….” (p. 2). The First amendment states “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.” Free expression is the foundation of democracy and the right to independent thought. This is the purpose of the first amendment right.
The first Amendment forbids Congress from enacting laws that would regulate speech or press before publication or punish after publication. At various times, many states passed laws in contradiction to the freedoms guaranteed...