You Can't Air That: Four Cases of Controversy and Censorship in American Television Programming (Television and Popular Culture) - Hardcover

Silverman, David S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0815631502 ISBN 13: 9780815631507

Publisher: Syracuse University Press, 2007

Synopsis

In this illuminating book, David S. Silverman assesses four controversial television programs from the perspective of media history, assessing the censorship present at all four networks and the political and intellectual inertia it produces in broadcast television.

Beginning with The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the sixties, the author also examines The Richard Pryor Show, TV Nation, and Politically Incorrect. Drawing on firsthand accounts by the writers, producers, and performers of these programs, Silverman offers an unbiased view of the ways in which censorship, sponsor intimidation, regulation, and network tampering force all American broadcasters to manipulate creative talent and stifle genuine controversy. Shedding new light on the prevalence of censorship in broadcast television, this book reinvigorates the subject of free speech in American society.

About this title

About the Author:

David S. Silverman is assistant professor of communications arts at Valley City State University, North Dakota.

Review:

"You can't air that": Four cases of controversy and censorship in American television programming. Highly recommended. All readers, all levels. -- CHOICE- Editor's Picks April 2008

A refreshing and engaging focus on the role that the networks play in censoring their own programming. -- Journal of Popular Culture August, 2008

By telling engaging stories of creative expression and censorship and of network misjudgement and recovery, Silverman shows how commerical markets have both needed and feared artistic license and free expression. -- Journalism History

About this edition

• Publisher: Syracuse University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0815631502
• ISBN 13: 9780815631507
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 196