Characteristic of media censorship and self-control in the process of forming a democratic society

Torosyan Vardan Grigorievich, Borovik Maria Viktorovna

The article examines the controversial role of the mass media in the formation of a democratic society, when instead of officially abolished censorship, the need for self-control and appropriate moral criteria becomes especially urgent. On the one hand, the mass audience of the media and their efficiency in resonant coverage of a wide range of events allows us to solve serious problems. On the other hand, sometimes the freedom of the media understood as permissiveness, turns into a scandal, the education of a bad taste of the audience, moreover, threatens the stability of the state. Methods of comparison and analysis of well-known news materials prove the urgent need to determine reasonable and fair restrictions in the practice of the media. It is proved that this problem is directly related to the cultural policy of the state, which can’t be based longer on prohibitions and compulsions, but should take the character of a long-term program of cultural education.

Keywords:mass media, law, restriction, censorship, force, prohibitions, self-control.