Thursday classwork:

  1. How does the article describe what the censorship process was like in NZ 100 years ago? 

 the censor would snip out what was considered naughty bits from the magazines. Other times, he would ban books entirely. Movie scenes thought to be distasteful or offensive to the NZ public would be cut out and the movie reel stitched back together.

2. In what ways has this changed? 

-The chief censor's role, today, is to monitor, research and guide.

-David shank says "For me, what I plan to achieve is a re-establishment of the office and the role in a fit for purpose way in the new environment because clearly, as the research is showing us, we are in a different world and old models and attitudes aren't really fit for that world and we've got an opportunity to move things on,". To view all media coming into New Zealand that has a rating of M or higher in the Australian and British markets. (those with lower ratings get an automatic uncut release). 

4. Who is the NZ chief censor? 

David Shanks

5. What 3 words describe how the chief censor sees his responsibility and role? 

monitor, research, and guide.

6. What City does the Chief censor reside in and how many people work in his team?

Wellington city, David shank has 15 censors under his watch.

7. What other content passes through the hands of the censors and why is it considered a 'dark' side to the job? 

Clips, film, and photos found on laptops and cameras seized by the police, Department of Internal Affairs, or customs are passed on to the censors' office for classification. The censors are the only group that can classify a video.

8. What are they on the lookout for in content that is being assessed? 

sex, horror, crime, cruelty, and violence as well as provisions covering highly offensive language and self-harm.

9. What are some of the things that might be outright banned in NZ? 

the sexual exploitation of children, sexual violence or coercion, torture or extreme violence, bestiality, sexual conduct involving the body of a dead person, and the use of urine or excrement in association with degrading or sexual conduct.

10. What medium is becoming the censor's main focus at the moment and what do they do to classify things of that medium in NZ? 

Video games, they will be played by a gamer who then rates and classifies them.

11. Seeing how Shanks describes the differences between regulatory standards in NZ and Australia, how do you think culture plays a part in restrictions placed on content?

Kiwis don't have a high tolerance for violence and sexual violence, unlike our Australian counterparts. Yet we've got a higher threshold for obscene language, nudity, and healthy portrayals of sexual relationships. This shows that different things would have to be restricted for different reasons in NZ and this is because of the culture we have and how New Zealanders have a lower tolerance for certain things in the media.

12. What is a good example of a movie that was rated M in Australia but got a reviewed rating in NZ?

Suicide Squad which was released as an M, and at the DVD store it had been rated R13.

13. Explain how the digital era proves a challenge to the censors?

Because so much content is being uploaded onto the internet every second (about 300 hours of content put up every minute.) it becomes almost impossible now. 

14. How does Shank imagine we might tackle this challenge? 

David shank says "I think when you've got those sorts of issues the role of the office is in research and is in informing and educating and actually acting as the voice in the center of all these issues going, 'hey this is what is going on, this is a problem and it's not something we can deal with through traditional regulation or oversight'.

"If we join up agencies, if we get educators in the mix, if we have agencies like Netsafe, the Broadcasting Standards Authority, who are going to be taking an increasing role with streaming providers, we have a chance of getting a bit of consistent approach and messaging  in ratings for people in this country that they can work with, that parents can work with and kids can be informed by as well."

15. What model did the Government say streaming services would fall under? 

streaming services would fall under a self-regulatory broadcasting standards model. While that model is constructed, streaming content is unregulated.