Home > Censorship in the United States

The US Bill of Rights explicitly forbids the government to censor advocacy of religious ideas or practices and guarantees the rights of citizens to speak and publish freely, as well as to "assemble" to demand "redress of grievances" (see First Amendment).

Yet perfectly free expression of ideas or information has never existed in the US. For example, the U.S. military has always censored news on war. And no one is permitted to " shout fire in a crowded theatre" just to have the fun of causing a panic. There are also laws about incitement to riot , which draw a fine distinction between (a) saying a situation is intolerably bad and (b) urging people to take immediate, illegal action to "right the wrong."

There have been rare examples the government exercising "prior restraint" of sensitive material, for instance the Pentagon Papers' publication in the New York Times and the Washington Post, but these exercises have generally been ruled unconstitutional.

Courts censor "obscene" materials. School libraries, in a way, have occasionally censored a book by refusing to shelve it -- although the public library in the same town might carry it.

Although the First Amendment to the fledgling nation's constitution was intended to guarantee the free expression of political and religious ideas, many writers have charged that political parties and corporate interests have found ways to suppress ideas which are so effective as to be tantamount to censorship itself.

Political parties and corporate interests hire public relations firms, who use spin (a form of propaganda) and media manipulation to direct people's attention away from issues they prefer not to be discussed, or towards others. The techniques are not, however, universally successful. Political scandals, in particular, such as the Monica Lewinsky incident, have a tendency to leak out, in particular if there is sordid or ribald interest.

Moreover, the book Manufacturing ConsentManufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media is a book by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. Presenting a theory its authors call the " propaganda model", the book argues that since mass media news outlets are now run by large corporatio argues that economic pressure on media corporations enforces a pro-government slant on news reporting. Similarly, the book BiasBias has several different meanings, most relating to an offset or prejudice of some sort. Viewpoint A bias is a prejudice in a general or specific sense, usually in the sense for having a predilection to one particular point of view or ideology. One is s argues that a prevailing liberal viewpoint among TV journalists results in the suppression of conservative views. See the media biasLiberal bias and conservative bias should both be merged and redirected to this article. Media bias is a real or perceived tendency of journalists and news producers within the mass media to approach both the presentation of particular stories, and the se page for further discussion of allegations of conservative vs. liberal biases in the American media.

Censorship efforts directed towards musicians have occurred several times in American history. This began at least as far back as jazzFor other article subjects named Jazz see jazz (disambiguation). Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. It has been called the first original art form to develop in th in the 1920sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 Events and trends Technology John Logie Baird invents the first working t, when observers expressed fear that the music was corrupting the minds of young Americans. This has been a common accusation throughout the years, and has been applied to the bluesBlues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which evolved from African American spirituals, shouts, work songs and chants and has its earliest stylistic roots in West Africa. Blues has been a major influence on later American and Western popular music,, swing, hip hopHip hop is a cultural movement that began amongst urban , African American & Puerto Rican youth in New York and has since spread around the world. The four main elements of hip-hop are MCing, DJing, graffiti art, and breakdancing. Some consider beatboxing, punk rock, rock and roll, heavy metal, psychedelic rock and rockabilly. Artists like 2 Live Crew, Marilyn Manson, Elvis Presley, The Doors and Eminem have been subjects of censorship efforts.