Censorship, Writing, and the Inherent Risks of Authorship

Writing has always been a risky venture, fraught with ethical, political, and financial pitfalls. The history of writing is filled with examples of censorship—governmental, social, and personal—and authors have often risked much for the sake of their written words. For this essay, we will examine the complex issue of censorship and whether the screening of writing has a place in modern democracy and the civilized world in general. In the course of your research, you should try to find answers to the following questions: How can we define censorship? Are there situations where censorship is justifiable? If so, who should be given the task to censor such texts? Does the medium—digital, print, radio, television, etc.—matter in terms of the justifiability of censorship? The completed assignment should be 1250 words in length, not including the required works cited page. One source must be cited from our class readings and another must be found through library research