Paper Example on Press, Speech Freedom and Media Privacy

Introduction

History suggests that the press has been under control of those who have much power in the society. It is these group of people that have much power and influence in the society. In most cases, this group involves those in government and the rich who control economies. Governments hold the belief that the release of critical information that concerns it without permission is subject to punishment by the law. According to Morone and Kersh (2016), the state believes that any form of critique would affect the honesty and integrity of the kind of politics that it involves itself. The freedom of the press increases the critical responsibility of the media in democratic nations. The media protects the society from dictatorial and unjust governments since they enlighten and disseminate information to the public. It, therefore, means that the people will be in a position to be aware of what is taking place in their environments. However, some people believe that giving the press too much freedom will be an invasion of people's privacy.

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The press plays the role of protecting the fundamental human rights and freedom. Protection includes protection against racial discrimination. When the media protects the rights of the people, it also means that it is protecting its rights. Dawes (2014) assert that freedom of speech and expression involves three essential aspects which include freedom of being informed, freedom of having a personal opinion and freedom of the media. Through these freedoms, the press sheds light on instances of violating human rights, which most governments do. For example, the U.S went into war with Iraq in 2005. It was aimed to protect the rights of the people. However, the press manages to uncover the criminal activities of the United States Army against the citizens of Iraq. Such a situation led to the killing of many journalists during the war. The press has also managed to uncover racial discrimination against blacks in the United States.

Media privacy, speech, and press freedom are as an essential part of a free society. It helps in developing the community and governments, disseminates information to enlighten the community and keeps the government on toes by uncovering its activities. Recently, people have full control of the manner in which they receive information (Dawes, 2014).

Need for Press Freedom

Recent trends in the field of communication and media show the treatment of journalists. The balance between privacy and freedom of expression is also an issue that has given rise to much debate in recent years. Kalenborn and Lessmann (2013) note that the main reason behind this is that there is an increase in competition between the media companies to increase their sales. National security and the spread of modern technologies poses a challenge to the freedom of media today. The topic of media freedom is of my interest because recently, the government has been using sophisticated techniques and professionals with an objective of investigating journalists.

Governments have also initiated a search for journalists with the aim of intimidating media from reporting the truth. It means that there is a lot of information concealed from the public through silencing the media reporters. In most cases, those individuals who are whistleblowers sometimes face prosecution and persecution. Dawes (2014) also notes that there are instances when journalists disappear under mysterious circumstances. Such a situation makes journalists more courteous when performing their duties and protecting the source of their information.

The media is also entitled to express itself through issuing its opinions freely. Freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental human right that every individual is entitled. In this regard, the media has a right and an obligation to express its views without any form of interference from any party, state or even individuals. The media also has the responsibility of informing the public about the events that are taking place in their environment. Information is power and power is information. The freedom of speech and expression is, therefore, an emerging trend that is upcoming in modern democracies and non-democracies. The government employs their news agencies as a tool for spreading their propaganda. Any media or individual journalist seen to be a threat to government face death threats. In some instances, those individuals are kidnapped, tortured and assassinated. Some of the cases include Lira Baysetova in Kazakhstan, Georgiy R. Gongadze in Ukraine (Kalenborn & Lessmann, 2013).

The attack on the freedom of media is a common occurrence in many countries. Quite a lot of researchers have written papers on this issue. However, with the evolution of technology, the attack tends to take different forms than previously known. It is one of the reasons for researching on this topic, despite other works by other researchers who have done the same before.

Role of the Media in the Society

When talking about the attack on the freedom of the media as an emerging trend in modern society, it is essential to identify the critical aspect that the media plays in the society. Many people acknowledge the role that the government plays in the society, other than institutions that work on launching attacks on the press, which negatively portrays the press. The media plays a vital role in the society, which are not limited to the collection and dissemination of data, transmitting social values and cultures to the society on a foundation that people can express opinions freely and make critical decisions on matters that are concerned with social and political issues. In the modern society, the media is present in many forms such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, journals, and books. However, the modern society depends so much on internet websites and social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, and Instagram among others.

Media, therefore, plays the vital role of keeping people informed on what is taking place around them, irrespective of their geographical location. O'shaughnessy and Stadler (2012) support the suggestion that the mass media also keep people informed and updated on issues concerning the various news, events, entertainment, social activities, lifestyle and even advertisements.

Couldry (2012) says that the onset of the media in the society has outstanding impacts to the society through shaping their cultures. Through globalization, media ceases the physical boundaries of different organizations among individuals. As a result, through media, people are in a position to make virtual friends, irrespective of the distance or locations. Since media entirely makes use of modern technology, people are in a position to witness what is taking place anywhere, anytime across the world. Since media typically mirrors what other people do, globalization has given it the opportunity to shape different cultures around the globe. It, therefore, means that the media has a powerful influence on people's lives since it also educates people on a day to day revelations.

The media also plays a role in enhancing democracies in different nations. It is because of the unique capability of providing the public with information, educating the public and providing quality entertainment. As a result, people see the need to actively engage in the political and social life in their society (Couldry, 2012). Due to this, people behave effectively as good citizens, and this serves as justification for regulation in the context of democracy.

Modern press emerged in the nineteenth century in North America and Europe as a result of the scientific and industrial revolution, which acted as a base for shaping the modern society. Scientific revolution oversaw the delivery of newspapers to the public by use of trains. It has evolved to the modern society where people access information, just by a click of the button.

Olien, Tichenor, and Donohue (2018) argue that the media has both good and bad aspects, and all of these needs to be emphasized. Since modern media can create awareness on an issue at a faster rate, this can have a direct impact on people's lifestyles and culture. However, cultures can mislead, and break the moral and ethical fabric of the society. On a different perspective, the media managed to create awareness on social and economic matters such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Abortion, and Child Abuse among other issues.

Governmental Administration and Media Attack

Donald Trump Calls the Media, "The Enemy of the American People"

On 17th February 2017, President Donald Trump posted on his social media Twitter account that the press is the enemy to the American people. This message was directed to media organizations in the United States of America (New York Times, 2017). This event took place just shortly after the current American president assumed office in January 2017.

It was not the first occasion. During Trump's political campaigns, the American president also launched different attacks on the media. History records notable personalities such as Adolf Hitler, Mao, and Stalin also describing the press as peoples' enemy. The objective of describing the media as the public enemy is to make the work of journalists to be illegitimate. In this way, the public would treat the information provided by the media as fake news. Branding the works of the press as 'fake news' would, therefore, create confusion in the minds of those who consume the news. The public would consequently start wondering about what is right or wrong. As a result, people find it very hard to determine the information that can be trusted or not.

In his book, Karb (2018) describes this event and relates it to American democracy. He says that media freedom is a test on the survival of democracy. The author notes that in most cases, then there is a restriction of the movement of journalists in an attempt to prevent them from accessing information with a goal of concealing some information from the public. It means that there is creeping authoritarianism which begins in a small way on a daily basis and develops weekly, monthly and manages to be seen as usual by the public. In this way, the public will ride with it.

Karb (2018) also note that the manner in which Trump administration deals with the press is uncalled for. It is about the numerous angry remarks which portray the United States administration to be in running wars with the media. The referral of the press as the enemy of the people means that the field of journalism is a disgrace to the society, according to Donald Trump. The statement also implies that the reporters are individuals who lack the virtue of honesty. Such situations are only evident when the media is critical to his personality, actions, ideologies, and policies. The description of the press as the enemy is a language that leaders use when they are referring to hostile and dictatorial foreign governments or dissident organizations which tyrants use to minimize opposition.

Jonathan Carl Pushing Legislation to Sue Media Organizations

Jonathan Carl is the chief of Staff in Donald Trump administration. In an interview with ABC News on 4th January 2017, he proposed the second amendment which would make it very easy for the United States administration to sue the media houses in a court of law. He said that there is a need for the media to apply more responsibility in the manner that they conduct their activities and obligations. Such a situation showed the public absence of government contentment with the initial tweet where the media is the enemy of the people. Criticism of the government is crucial since it keeps the government on toes and it uncovers the hidden intentio...