CensorshipA B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWdemotic turn; journalism: celebrity jour-
nalism; reality tv; reinforcement.
Cellular radio Comprises radio frequencies
divided up into ‘cells’ of air waves facilitating, in
particular, personal communications systems.
For example, anyone operating a car telephone
will be switched automatically from one radio
frequency to another as the operator passes
through the air-wave cells. See media tech-
nology.
Censorship Pre-emptive censorship is censor-
ship before the event; punitive, after the event.
They often work in tandem: one punishment
serves as a warning to others. Censorship
involves the curtailment, usually by or on behalf
of those in authority, of the major freedoms – of
belief, expression, movement, assembly and
access to information. Th e most common form
of censorship is that applied by the self: a thing
is not expressed because of the risk of external
censorship – from the law, from organizations
and institutions, from pressure groups. Th us
we have censorship by omission or evasion.
Few if any communities tolerate completely
free expression. In the UK, for example, laws of
defamation exist to protect persons against
acts of communication which may offend or
injure them, or their reputation in the commu-
nity. Equally protective are restrictions upon
material transmitted to children (see certifica-
tion of films). Such forms of censorship meet
with general approval, but they represent only
the tip of a large legal iceberg.
The UK’s Official Secrets Act is one of the
most far-reaching weapons of legal censorship
ever devised. Th e Act (or Acts, 1911–91) makes
it an off ence for anyone to obtain and commu-
nicate documents and information that could be
harmful to the safety and interest of the State.
In addition, the State protects a commonality
of interests with a wide range of laws. Th e UK’s
Public Order Act of 1936 restricted the way we
behave, or what we say, in public. If an individual
uses threatening or insulting words, likely to
cause a breach of the peace, this is a punishable
off ence. Th e common-law off ence of Sedition,
of long standing, protects the sovereign, the
government and its institutions from individuals
or groups causing intentional discontent and
hatred, while the Incitement to Disaff ection Act
of 1934 made it an off ence to try to persuade a
member of the armed forces to an act of disloy-
alty. Equally, the Police Act of 1964 made it an
off ence to promote unfaithfulness by a police
offi cer towards his duties.
It remains an offence to issue a BlasphemyAmong those artists who have attempted
to push the cartoon on film in an innovative
direction are the Hungarian John Halas and his
wife Joy Batchelor, Richard Williams and Bob
Godfrey. In recent years Matt Groening’s Th e
Simpsons has become arguably the world’s most
watched TV cartoon. Today’s TV and movie
cartoons have vastly benefi ted from advances in
computer-generated imaging.
Catch-up TV See television: catch-up tv.
Catalyst effect Where a book, newspaper,
film, TV or radio programme has the effect
of modifying a situation, or taking a mediating
role. Th e actual presence of TV cameras may, it
is believed, infl uence the course of events. Th e
debate continues as to whether such eff ects are
substantial or marginal, for reliable proof is hard
to come by. See mediation.
Catharsis From the Greek, ‘purging’, catharsis is
the eff ect upon an audience of tragedy in drama
or the novel. Th e Greek philosopher Aristotle
perceived the function of great tragedy to be the
release of pent-up emotions in the audience. As a
consequence, the mind is cleansed and purifi ed.
Th e so-termed catharsis hypothesis suggests that
violence and aggression on fi lms and TV has a
therapeutic eff ect. Exponents of this idea argue
that the involvement in fantasy aggression may
serve as a form of displacement, providing a
harmless ‘release’ from hostile impulses which
might otherwise be acted out. See effects of
the mass media.
CCTV: Closed-circuit television One of the
key means of public and private surveillance
(see surveillance society). Used in public
locations in the UK as early as the coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953, and as a permanent
fi xture in London from the 1960s. By 2006 it
was estimated that there were in excess of four
million CCTV cameras operative in Britain,
one for every fourteen citizens. Th at fi gure has
increased substantially, to the point where the
British people are considered not only the most
‘watched’ people in Europe, but, diff erences in
population being taken in to account, camera
surveillance outstrips that in the US. In urban
areas a person can expect to be captured on
camera some 300 times a day. See biometrics;
echelon; regulation of investigatory
powers act (ripa)(uk), 2000.
Ceefax Trade name of the teletext service off ered
by the BBC since September 1974, giving view-
ers access to information on a wide range of
services. Th e commercial television equivalent
is Oracle.
Celebrity See culture: popular culture;