The Routledge Companion to Freedom of Expression and Censorship offers a thorough exploration of the debates surrounding this contentious topic, considering the importance placed upon it in democratic societies and the reasons frequently proposed for limiting and constraining it. This volume addresses the various historical, philosophical, political and cultural parameters of censorship and freedom of expression as well as current debates involving technology, journalism and media regulation. Geographically, temporally and culturally diverse accounts of censorship and freedom of expression are discussed through a broad range of perspectives and case studies. This Companion covers core principles and concerns in addition to more specialist and controversial debates, including those surrounding hate speech, holocaust denial, pornography and so-called ‘cancel culture’. The collection pays particular attention to the role of the media in both facilitating and suppressing freedom of expression. Comprehensive, original and timely, The Routledge Companion to Freedom of Expression and Censorship is a go-to resource for scholars and advanced students of media, communication and journalism studies.

The horror film is now one of the most popular and talked-about film genres and yet, outside of the Hammer studio, very little has been written about British horror. Going beyond Hammer, British Horror Cinema investigates a wealth of horror filmmaking in Britain, from early chillers like The Ghoul and Dark Eyes of London to acknowledged classics such as Peeping Tom and The Wicker Man.
^ Contributors explore the contexts in which British horror films have been censored and classified, judged by their critics and consumed by their fans. Uncovering neglected modern classics like Deathline, and addressing issues such as the representation of family and women, they consider the Britishness of British horror and examine sub-genres such as the psycho-thriller and witchcraft movies, the work of the Amicus studio, and key filmmakers including Peter Walker. British Horror Cinema also features a comprehensive filmography and interviews with key directors Clive Barker and Doug Bradley.
Chapters include:
*the 'Psycho Thriller'
*the British censors and horror cinema
*femininity and horror film fandom
*witchcraft and the occult in British horror
*Horrific films and 1930s British Cinema
*Peter Walker and Gothic revisionism

The horror film is now one of the most popular and talked about film genres and yet, outside of the Hammer studio, very little has been written about British horror. Going beyond Hammer, British Horror Cinema investigates a wealth of horror filmmaking in Britain, from early chillers like The Ghoul and Dark Eyes of London to acknowledged classics such as Peeping Tom and The Wicker Man.
Contributors explore the contexts in which British horror films have been censored and classified, judged by their critics and consumed by their fans. Uncovering neglected modern classics like Deathline, and addressing issues such as the representation of family and women, they consider the Britishness of British horror and examine sub-genres such as the psycho-thriller and witchcraftmovies, the work of the Amicus studio, and key filmmakers including Peter Walker. British Horror Cinema also features a comprehensive filmography and interviews with key directors Clive Barker and Doug Bradley.
Chapters include:
*the 'Psycho Thriller'
*the British censors and horror cinema
*femininity and horror film fandom
*witchcraft and the occult in British horror
*Horrific films and 1930s British Cinema
*Peter Walker and Gothic revisionism

Contents:
Notes Introduction: From bad research to good - a guide for the perplexed 1.The Newson Report: a case study in 'commonsense' Martin Barker 2.The worrying influence of 'media effects' studies David Gauntlett 3.Electronic child abuse? Rethinking the media's effects on children David Buckingham 4.Living for a libido; or, Child's Play IV: the imagery of childhood and the call for censorship Patricia Holland 5.Just what the doctors ordered? - Media regulation, education and the 'problem' of media violence Sara Bragg 6.Once more with feeling: talking about the media violence debate in Australia Sue Turnbull 7.I was a teenage horror fan: or, 'How I learned to stop worrying and love Linda Blair' Mark Kermode 8.'Looks Like it Hurts': Women's Responses to Shocking Entertainment Annette Hill 9.Reservoirs of dogma: an archaeology of popular anxieties Graham Murdock 10.Us and them Julian Petley 11.Invasion of the Internet Abusers: Marketing Fears About the Information Superhighway Thomas Craig and Julian Petley 12.On the problems of being a 'trendy travesty' Martin Barker with Julian Petley Index

Culture Wars investigates the relationship between the media and politics in Britain today. It focusses on how significant sections of the national press have represented and distorted the policies of the Labour Party, and particularly its left, from the Thatcher era up to and including Ed Miliband's and Jeremy Corbyn's leaderships. Revised and updated, including five brand new chapters, this second edition shows how press hostility to the left, particularly newspaper coverage of its policies on race, gender and sexuality, has morphed into a more generalised campaign against 'political correctness', the 'liberal elite' and the so-called 'enemies of the people'. Combining fine-grained case studies with authoritative overviews of recent British political and media history, Culture Wars demonstrates how much of the press have routinely attacked Labour and, in so doing, have abused their political power, distorted public debate, and negatively impacted the news agendas of public service broadcasters. The book also raises the intriguing question of whether the rise of social media, and the success of its initial exploitation by Corbyn supporters, followed by Labour as a whole in the 2017 General Election, represent a major shift in the balance of power between Labour and the media, and in particular the right-wing press. Culture Wars will be of considerable interest to students and researchers in the fields of media, politics and contemporary British history, and will also attract those with a more general interest in current affairs in the UK.

Ill Effects revisits the 'media effects' debate. It asks why, when a particularly high-profile crime of violence is committed, there are those who blame film, television, video, pop music, and more recently, the Internet.
Ill Effects considers how the 'media effects' controversy has developed and combines a discussion about the responses to the shootings at Columbine High School, an analysis of the 1998 Home Office report on video violence and an exploration of why the Internet is being demonised, along with an analysis of fans' responses to supposedly dangerous films such as Reservoir Dogs, Natural Born Killers and Man Bites Dog.
In this second edition, the authors question why the popular press continues to peddle a cruel caricature of the way in which the media supposedly affects behaviour. They argue that there needs to be a change in the very questions that are asked about the influence of the media; rather than fruitlessly searching for evidence of 'harm', there needs to be a better understanding of the ways in which people actually use and interact with so called 'violent' media. Exploring what 'violence' means to different audiences, Ill Effects includes a guide to the important new research which is beginning to make a difference to the controversial argument about the influence of the media.

Culture Wars investigates the relationship between the media and politics in Britain today. It focusses on how significant sections of the national press have represented and distorted the policies of the Labour Party, and particularly its left, from the Thatcher era up to and including Ed Miliband's and Jeremy Corbyn's leaderships. Revised and updated, including five brand new chapters, this second edition shows how press hostility to the left, particularly newspaper coverage of its policies on race, gender and sexuality, has morphed into a more generalised campaign against 'political correctness', the 'liberal elite' and the so-called 'enemies of the people'. Combining fine-grained case studies with authoritative overviews of recent British political and media history, Culture Wars demonstrates how much of the press have routinely attacked Labour and, in so doing, have abused their political power, distorted public debate, and negatively impacted the news agendas of public service broadcasters. The book also raises the intriguing question of whether the rise of social media, and the success of its initial exploitation by Corbyn supporters, followed by Labour as a whole in the 2017 General Election, represent a major shift in the balance of power between Labour and the media, and in particular the right-wing press. Culture Wars will be of considerable interest to students and researchers in the fields of media, politics and contemporary British history, and will also attract those with a more general interest in current affairs in the UK.

This collection focuses on 1970s films from a variety of countries, and from the marginal to the mainstream, which, by tackling various 'difficult' subjects, have proved to be controversial in one way or another. It is not an uncritical celebration of the shocking and the subversive but an attempt to understand why this decade produced films which many found shocking, and what it was that made them shocking to certain audiences. To this end it includes not only films that shocked the conventionally minded, such as hard core pornography, but also those that outraged liberal opinion - for example, Death Wish and Dirty Harry. The book does not simply cast a critical light on a series of controversial films which have been variously maligned, misinterpreted or just plain ignored, but also assesses how their production values, narrative features and critical receptions can be linked to the wider historical and social forces that were dominant during this decade. Furthermore, it explores how these films resonate in our own historical moment - replete as it is with shocks of all kinds.

This collection focuses on 1970s films from a variety of countries, and from the marginal to the mainstream, which, by tackling various ‘difficult’ subjects, have proved to be controversial in one way or another. It is not an uncritical celebration of the shocking and the subversive but an attempt to understand why this decade produced films which many found shocking, and what it was that made them shocking to certain audiences. To this end it includes not only films that shocked the conventionally minded, such as hard core pornography, but also those that outraged liberal opinion – for example, Death Wish and Dirty Harry. The book does not simply cast a critical light on a series of controversial films which have been variously maligned, misinterpreted or just plain ignored, but also assesses how their production values, narrative features and critical receptions can be linked to the wider historical and social forces that were dominant during this decade. Furthermore, it explores how these films resonate in our own historical moment – replete as it is with shocks of all kinds.

Moral Panics in the Contemporary World represents the best current theoretical and empirical work on the topic, taken from the international conference on moral panics held at Brunel University. The range of contributors, from established scholars to emerging ones in the field, and from a working journalist as well, helps to cover a wide range of moral panics, both old and new, and extend the geographical scope of moral panic analysis to previously underrepresented areas. Designed from the outset to comprise a coherent and integrated set of viewpoints which share a common engagement with critically exploring moral panics in the contemporary world, it contains case studies instantly recognisable and familiar to a student readership (drugs, alcohol, sexual abuse and racism). The collection brings a fresh approach to analysis and argument by testing and extending the concept of moral panic and analyzing a range of topics and geographical contexts, accurately reflecting the state-of-the-art moral panics research today.

Moral Panics in the Contemporary World represents the best current theoretical and empirical work on the topic, taken from the international conference on moral panics held at Brunel University. The range of contributors, from established scholars to emerging ones in the field, and from a working journalist as well, helps to cover a wide range of moral panics, both old and new, and extend the geographical scope of moral panic analysis to previously underrepresented areas. Designed from the outset to comprise a coherent and integrated set of viewpoints which share a common engagement with critically exploring moral panics in the contemporary world, it contains case studies instantly recognisable and familiar to a student readership (drugs, alcohol, sexual abuse and racism). The collection brings a fresh approach to analysis and argument by testing and extending the concept of moral panic and analyzing a range of topics and geographical contexts, accurately reflecting the state-of-the-art moral panics research today.

The media today, and especially the national press, are frequently in conflict with people in the public eye, particularly politicians and celebrities, over the disclosure of private information and behavior. Historically, journalists have argued that 'naming and shaming' serious wrong-doing and behavior on the part of public officials is justified as being in the public interest. However, when the media spotlight is shone on perfectly legal personal behavior, family issues and sexual orientation, and when, in particular, this involves ordinary people, the question arises of whether such matters are really in the 'public interest' in any meaningful sense of the term. In this book, leading academics, commentators and journalists from a variety of different cultures, consider the extent to which the media are entitled to reveal details of people's private lives, the laws and regulations which govern such revelations, and whether these are still relevant in the age of social media.