MARY WHITEHOUSE - THE BBC DRAMA BBC Release
The National Viewers' and Listeners' Association was founded in 1965 by the late, great, Mary Whitehouse CBE and her associates, following the huge public support for the Clean Up TV Campaign launched in 1964. As a teacher, she was finding that television was undermining family life, social cohesion and attacking Christian values. Speaking in 1964, at Birmingham Town Hall, she said: "If violence is shown as normal on the television screen it will help to create a violent society"Mary Whitehouse: A Household NameFor more than thirty-five years Mary Whitehouse had been a household name that evoked enthusiastic support as well as prejudiced hostility. The cause that she co-founded in the 1960's remains valid today because the issue of TV standards, which gave rise to the campaign from the beginning, continues to concern many people. At a packed meeting in the Birmingham Town Hall on the 5 May 1964, she said, "If violence is shown as normal on the television screen it will help to create a violent society". The next day, The Times reporting on the meeting said: "About 2,000 supporters of a campaign to ‘clean up' BBC television attended a meeting which decided to ask the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh for their support."
They were asked to give "encouragement and support to our efforts to bring about a radical change in the policy of entertainers in general and the Governors of the BBC in particular. In view of the terrifying increase in promiscuity and its attendant horrors we are desperately anxious to banish from our homes and theatres those who seek to demoralize and corrupt our young people." Mary Whitehouse, one of the founders of the movement, appealed to sympathizers to ask their parliamentary candidates to come right out into the open with their views on the campaign. The Times report concluded: "Perhaps never in the history of the Birmingham Town Hall has such a successful meeting been sponsored by such a flimsy organization".The first ‘Clean Up TV Campaign' newsletter on the 15 May 1964 said: "What a wonderful experience the evening of the 5 May was! The sight of the packed hall and the singing of the National Anthem were unforgettable. Everyone must have been tremendously heartened, and it will have given great satisfaction to those who worked so hard and came so far to register their support.
Delegations came from all over the Midlands and from as far away as Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, London, Devon and Mid-Wales. There were many personal messages of support that were backed by the 120,000 signatures already appended to the Manifesto. There is also a suggestion for a kind of "Consumers' Council" which would protect not only the viewing public, but the playwrights and artistes who are struggling to produce better plays." The power of the mass media is now widely recognized and the truth of what Mary Whitehouse said in the 1960's has been borne out as much of western society, which has been saturated with violent entertainment, is experiencing unprecedented levels of social disorder, delinquency and criminal violence.At Madeley School Mary Whitehouse became aware of the profound effect television was having on the moral values of the girls in her care. The 1960's were a time of great political upheaval and social change. The lifestyles promised by TV advertisements and glamorous American films had a very strong appeal.
In the late 50's and 60's the message that young people were hearing from a new generation of opinion formers and pop stars, promoted by the media, was one of 'free love' and 'if it feels good do it'. The Profumo scandal dominated news and made headlines for weeks making prostitution and vice in general seem familiar.Motivated by a profound Christian faith, Mary Whitehouse, and the Association she co-founded, believed that something must be done about the damaging influence of the media. The 'Clean Up TV Campaign' was launched in 1963 and a nation-wide petition organized. Half a million signatures were presented to the Governors of the BBC but programming did not improve as a result. The National Viewers' and Listeners' Association was founded in 1965 as a response to the huge, and on-going, public support for the campaign.Mary Whitehouse was always widely respected because of her courage, sincerity and transparent honesty and her ability to see the substance of the issues clearly. When actively involved she met regularly with politicians, various secretaries of State and broadcasters in an effort to secure good entertainment that would benefit society as a whole rather than simply the narrow interests of programme makers and film producers.
In 1977 Lord Annan, speaking in a House of Lords debate on the Future of Broadcasting paid this tribute: "I have very considerable respect for Mrs Whitehouse. It is common, among both the intelligentsia and the broadcasters, to sneer at her. Let no one forget that on the evidence which our Committee received she speaks for millions, and the force with which she speaks is matched by her personal modesty and absence of rancour. Our Committee judged that she, and others of course, had made out a case which the broadcasters had not answered".Mary Whitehouse made many campaign trips around the world to address meetings and conferences arranged to discuss the effects of the media on their societies and to advise on appropriate action. She debated at universities all over the United Kingdom, not always winning, but ensuring lively and provocative discussions among the students. She appeared on many television and radio programmes when discussion ranged over many moral and social issues. She was the subject of major production 'Person to Person' on BBC TV in 1979. The media exerts huge influence on our society, which we believe ought to be used to strengthen it instead of undermining traditional moral and ethical values that remain at the heart of mediawatch-uk today.Mary Whitehouse wrote six books and these books provide an insight not only into the compassionate and caring person who wrote them but also into the revolutionary changes that were being foisted on our unsuspecting society by a handful of dedicated radicals. In 1980 she was awarded the CBE, which she felt gave the cause official recognition. Although she modestly derived great pleasure from this award many of her close friends and supporters felt that it was a less than adequate recognition of her contribution to the good of society.In the years before her passing Mary Whitehouse suffered agonizing and debilitating pain caused by a fracture to her spine while gardening. She always maintained an interest in the work and her determination that children, above all, should be free from exploitation and allowed to grow and mature at their own rate rather than have maturity, and a lot more besides, imposed by others, remained undimmed.The media exerts huge influence on our society, which we believe ought to be used to strengthen it instead of undermining traditional moral and ethical values that remain at the heart of mediawatch-uk today.The Filth and the FuryIn the four decades since Mary Whitehouse began her crusade so save us from TV filth her views have been roundly mocked - but broadcasters have been forced to listen more to viewers, says media journalist Peter Keighron.(We reproduce the following extracts from a much longer article)It's forty years since Mary Whitehouse launched her Clean-up TV Campaign to push back the waves of sex, violence and blasphemy she judged to be pouring through our TV screens. Clean-up TV soon became the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association which in turn was re-branded as mediawatch-uk. And so the struggle continues.mediawatch-uk's most recent headline-catching contribution was to publish a survey which condemned Five for being the country's most violent channel. Five's response was one of polite dismissal. "We don't think their views always reflect those of the general population," said a spokesman. mediawatch-uk must be used to this. Indeed it would be only to easy to regard the last 40 years of mediawatch-uk as an unremitting story of retreat. "It was an irritant", says Jonathan Powell, former BBC head of drama, "We always tried to slap it down like a horrible little mosquito. But when the noise reached a certain level you had to do something about it".
Few viewers knew how to complain or who to complain to. And it's here that mediawatch-uk has made real impact - Beyer justifiably claims that the organisation was influential in the setting up of the Broadcasting Standards Council in 1988. "We made out a case that there wasn't proper machinery for handling grievances from the public," he says. "That is a major achievement. That is where we have shaped the TV debate."Broadcast 14/5/2004Former chairman of mediawatch-uk, John Milton Whatmore, replied to this article and the following letter was published in the 28 May issue:
From the start of The Filth and the Fury (Broadcast 14/5/2004) this was not an analysis so much as a demolition (with no serious questions asked) of a reputation and work which, although controversial, justifiably represented thousands of people's views. Much of what Mary Whitehouse campaigned for was sound and desirable. Much of what she said has not been disproved.
On the contrary, the state of TV and films today does not particularly reflect society and many people in this country do not go to the cinema and refuse to watch certain programmes on television. Many religious people would have been affronted by last week's analysis. Fortunately for them they don't have to put up with your reporter's anti-Christ views and disrespectful scribbling since most will not be subscribers. On their behalf perhaps I can "thank Christ for that".We Laughed at Her, but She was RightWriting in the Catholic Herald, 14/5/2004, Mary Kenny set down her thoughts on the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Clean Up TV Campaign. This is part of what she wrote:
When Mary Whitehouse first burst upon the scene with her "Clean Up TV Campaign" 40 years ago, we all laughed. The spirit of the age - this was the 1960s - was against this provincial lady with her blue rinse hair and her teachery spectacles telling us that there were 66 disgusting mentions of the word "bloody" on the popular Alf Garnet comedy, Till Death Us Do Part. I interviewed Mary in the Sixties, and I was to meet her several times more over the decades. I could see that she was a formidable woman. She was very sure of her ground, and totally unafraid. As the years went by, she was to be subjected to an enormous amount of verbal abuse. She was mocked, caricatured, and dismissed by the controlling powers of the media, and particularly the BBC.
Far from "cleaning up" TV, over the flowing 40 years what appeared on screen became ever more explicit, squalid, and in many ways ever more humiliating. Exponentially, it seemed the degree of pure rubbish expanded.
Mary made tactical mistakes. She condemned plays and films she hadn't seen and she was often pushed into condemning everything by the tabloids. Yet, although she did not win her battles, she did accomplish something significant. She laid down a marker. She alerted people to the fact that culture was coarsening. She predicted that the tidal wave of pornography affect children and sexualise the very young. And 40 years on, you'd be amazed at the number of old Sixties liberals who privately thing that on many counts, Mary Whitehouse was right.Catholic Herald 14/5/2004On 1 June 1953 Mary Whitehouse made the following contribution to 'Woman's Hour', the BBC Home Service radio programme. DEDICATION: A HOUSEWIFE'S THOUGHTS ON THE EVE OF THE CORONATIONLast Christmas the Queen asked us all to pray for her on Coronation Day. She called us, surely, not to lip service, but to share in her personal dedication in the daily round of our own lives. The Queen said on her twenty first birthday "To make of this ancient commonwealth, which we all love so dearly, an even grander thin, more free, more prosperous, more happy, and a more powerful influence for good in the world we must give nothing less than the whole of ourselves."
What does such dedication mean to an ordinary housewife like me? Selfless living can so often appear to be something of the mountain top, difficult to work out in terms of pots and pans, ration books and children fast growing out of their clothes.Well, first of all, I am sure it means that the things we long to see in our nation we must first find for ourselves in our own hearts and homes. My husband tells me that he believes that what happens in the home makes a tremendous difference to a man in his work, whether he is dealing with men or materials. I believe this is no less true of our children.
To send out our husbands and children happily in the morning is a way in which we women can link ourselves with the great world outside our homes, and we feel that we are making a positive contribution to the peace for which long so much. I remember once, when my husband and I were arguing about something our small son turned to us and said "Stop it Mummy and Daddy, we'll never have peace in the world if you two quarrel!"
Men who leave their homes with a sense of well-being will take into their work a spirit of confidence and co-operation. The Queen will live to make our nation great, and in my own way I want to do the same. The world cries out for men who are willing to live above personal gain, men who can use their initiative and energy to solve the many problems, large and small, which confront us daily, whether in our broad national life or in the details of the workshop or office.
Do we ever stop to think how we women can empty our men folk of all initiative by our demands on their time, their energy and their emotions? Or else drive them from behind so that they will work to satisfy our own, often insatiable, demands? Our demands to keep up with our neighbours, to dress our children so that, at all costs, they will do us credit - and here for me is a great temptation - to tire them out with our complaints and grumbles.I suddenly realized a little while ago that instead of giving my husband a really warm welcome when he came home, he was usually met with a string of moans and groans - how often about the children! "You don't know what your youngest has been up to today!"The Queen will live to make our nation great, and in my own way I want to do the same. While hers may often be in more spectacular ways my dedication may just be in the caring I put into the details of my everyday life, even into the washing up and in the thought and preparation that goes into the cooking."Each meal a sacrament, a feast, And many who may never know our care,Will feel it and be glad."I used to blame all sorts of things for the kind of person I was - my upbringing, my circumstances, my misfortunes, instead of realizing there was only one person responsible, and that was me! In the same way, I need to accept fully the responsibility for what my nation is, and for what the world is. The fear, the greed, the hate, which so distress me in the world at large need equally to distress me when I see them, in smaller ways, in myself. At least there I can fight it, and in my heart and home I need to build a citadel against these things.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Friday, 9 December 2011
Censorship
Censorship is the control of the information and ideas circulated within the society, 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”. Democratic countries, on the other hand, take pride in upholding the principle of freedom of speech, but England is a non-democratic country.
Most people would agree that not all media texts are suitable for all audiences. It is generally agreed that there need to be some limitations placed on the type and content of texts which young children are exposed to, for instance. It is also agreed that the texts which are accessible to a wide and largely involuntary or non-selecting audience should not contain elements which might be offensive. Therefore, rules and regulations and systems have been set up to filter the content of certain media texts in certain situations. This is the practice of censorship. Pornography is probably the most pervasive type of censorship around the world, even though the behaviour it seeks to limit is, almost by definition, private and personal in the most fundamental way.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
case study
first piece of broadcast even though this was shown after 8pm it is still accessible on YouTube
this video is shown on TV and on youtube, even though the one they show on TV is the edited version is it appropriate for children to see it?
E-media this is a television show which available online by ITV player and to have access to this show you only have to tick one box this is something any child can do
This e-media game is very gory and shows no age restrictions, by just typing in violent Google automatically came up with games
This is an article based around porn and whether the government can do enough to stop it being so easily watched
online this is a video but the guardian has also printed off these images on their newspapers.
Friday, 21 October 2011
I am going to investigate porn and violence and the effects it has on children. I have started with some research which has mainly come from three newspaper websites, The Sun, The guardian and Daily mail.from these links i believe that porn and violence is not just a small matter and parents should be more aware of this. :)
Friday, 30 September 2011
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Media question
How do Facebook, Bebo and Google Plus change the way audiences connect with each other?
Social networking has been on-going for 10 years and has risen is popularity year by year. Bebo launched with the explicit goal of connecting people with their friends in new ways. Bebo didn’t have much software as Facebook and Google Plus has. It would only let you write on each other’s pictures and let you email. There was no instant messenger. But it recent year Facebook has become the most popular social networking site. There is all type of way in which you can connect with other users. There is status update, wall post, instant messenger etc. these are the many ways in which people connect now. Sites like Facebook let users build a profile with photos and personal data such as education, employment or favourite movies, music and books. This profile serves as a base from which the users build a network of friends and contacts
Now, a new contender has appeared on the scene: Google+. With all the might of the Google brand behind it, a full year of development and, lessons learned from Google's past forays into the social space, Google believes it has developed a product that will fundamentally change the way we share content and interact online.
Just as telephone, fax, and e-mail changed the way we communicate, social networking has revolutionized our conversations and social interactions.
Online interactions do not necessarily remove people from the outside world but may indeed be used to support relationships and keep people in contact, even when life changes move them away from each other. In addition to help student population, this use of technology could support a variety of populations, including professional researchers, community members, employees etc.
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