At the beginning of the semester, our class read the book “Entertaining Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman. This literary piece discusses the concept that everything media-related is becoming more and more “fun.” This meant that groups such as news organizations were becoming less concerned about the news and more concerned about the number of viewers they attracted. It also meant that banal and silly programs like comedies were, and still are, replacing programs like highbrow drama documentaries. This process only became possible because the power and influence of the media started to increase and the media could do whatever they wanted. Unrestricted media freedom could become a problem, however many people argue that the government cannot be involved in media expression because it would violate the fundamental constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of the press. Thus the solution of media self-regulation was proposed. Media self-regulation occurs when organizations voluntarily obey decisions approved by a board of people associated with the media. There are many examples of attempts at media self-regulation in the United States, all with varying degrees of success. It is evident that there are some very effective regulations because there are ratings on films and video games and the fact that there is a lack of adult content on television channels labeled as "children's" channels and in periods when there may be more children watching other channels” normal." However, these are also only temporary successes. It is possible to release unrated films, the only reason there aren't that many is that very few theaters will show unrated films. Furthermore, there is still mature programming floating around... middle of the paper... what time certain materials can be shown on television, the age people need to be or at least should be to see specific content (ratings ) and whether certain channels can show certain types of content. I think it would be fair if there were laws banning adult content on channels aimed primarily at children, laws forcing films to be rated, or even laws banning adult content between 7 a.m. and 12 p.m., a period where there are often small children watching television. Some of these laws may need additional parts to make them fair, such as the law requiring classification should also require theaters to give all films the same airtime classification. The government will not take advantage of its power over the media if we, America as a whole, do not let it. Some government influence on the media is the only way to properly regulate it.