Monday, November 29, 2010

What is the significance of the First Amendment with speech & press?

The significance of the First Amendment with speech and press gives us the opportunity to write blogs and speak our own opinions on different topics and issues. This is allowed because the amendment “prohibits government interference in free expression, religion and individual and public protests against government policies. Without this amendment social media would be only limited to what the government wanted. This is practiced in a few countries and it limits peoples freedom of expression. This amendment is an important one and without it we wouldn't be able to express how we feel in the media.

How does mass media reflect a poltical system globally?

Mass media is constanlty focusing on news about poltical systems globally. Today, you can find political news on pretty much any news website or blog. Since technology has become a major aspect of our lives we are able to connect with the entire world and find out information about their political situations. The way in which it reflects a political system globally depends on where the news is being produced and who its target audience is.

What is the significance of the First Amendment with speech & press?

The First Amendment: “prohibits government interference in free expression, religion and individual and public protests against government policies. The significance of the First Amendment and the free expression provision is the relevance they have on the media people by giving them freedom of speech and free press clauses. The free expression provision is defined as “the First Amendment ban against government abridgment of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.” The significance of the First Amendment for the media is that they have a role in governance and they can “ensure that the government is accountable to the people.” The freedom of speech and press is important, especially for the mass media and its audiences.

What is the significance of the First Amendment with speech & press?


The First Amendment: “prohibits government interference in free expression, religion and individual and public protests against government policies. The significance of the First Amendment and the free expression provision is the relevance they have on the media people by giving them freedom of speech and free press clauses. The free expression provision is defined as “the First Amendment ban against government abridgment of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.” The significance of the First Amendment for the media is that they have a role in governance and they can “ensure that the government is accountable to the people.” The freedom of speech and press is important, especially for the mass media and its audiences.

How does mass media reflect a political system globally?

Mass media constantly reflects the political system of the country it is in. Examples of this would be in 1529 when King Henry the fifth outlawed certain publications because a lot of the ideas that the media was throwing around were considered to be treason. You can almost tell what the country will be like if you look at its mass media acceptance. Certain dictators will completely change the media in order to keep their country unaware so they may stay in power such as Fidel Castro in Cuba. However our media is made for the people to understand what is going on in our own country. However the government has been able to keep certain things from us by using censorship. Cencorship is when the government leaves certain details out in the medias news reports. It may not be that the government is lying to us but instead only that they choose to only tell us what they think is okay for us to hear. The media greatly effects the stability of ones country. If CNN came on and said that the market was dropping significantly again, most people would probably freak out and go crazy with saving money and/or investing it. When Orson Wells played the War of the Worlds on the radio everyone thought he was actually serious and it directly effected peoples lives just by listening to the media.

What is the significance of the fourth estate?

In England and France in medieval times, society was structured into classes of people called estates. The first three estates were the clergy, the nobility, and the common people. However when Johann Gutenburg invented the printing press the idea of mass-produced written words became a growing power in society. the press eventually became known as the fourth estate. Now it is known as the fourth branch of government in the United States next to the legislative, executive, and judicial branch. The reason the media, or the fourth branch of government is so important is because its most important job is to moniter the other branches on behalf of the people. The media always keeps a close eye on government and anything else important going on around us and it reports it to the people in a simple understandable way. This is why the fourth estate is sometimes called the watchdog of the people. The media is always on the side of the common people constantly informing them about what is going on in the world around them. This is why the fourth estate is so important.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

What is the significance of the fourth estate?

The media has been referred to as the "fourth estate" ever since Edmund Burke coined the phrase in the mid 1700s. Medieval societies had always been structured into estates. The first being the clergy, the second the nobility, and the third the common people. With the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg, and the emergence of mass produced word as a powerful player in society, the press became the fourth estate. The idea was that the fourth estate, the press, report on the other estates unbiasedly and with a commitment to the truth. As Burke said, "There sat a fourth estate more important by far than them all."
Edmund Burke's words are as true today as they were centuries ago. The fourth estate plays an extremely important role in society, and I think it can be argued that they play a role by far more important than them all. The fourth estate has definitely adapted since medieval times, but the concept remains the same. In 1700s England and France, there was the clergy, nobility, common people, and mass produced written word as the fourth estate. Today in the United States we have three branches of government; the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. The press may not be a formal branch of government in the US, but the republic's founders implied a role for the press with the first amendment, which led to the press in the US being informally referred to as the fourth estate. Just like in medieval times, the fourth estate in our country today is expected to monitor the other branches on behalf of the people. The fourth estate is significant because they have one of the most important jobs in society, which is keeping those who are in charge honest. By acting as a watchdog, the fourth estate is responsible for exposing any wrong doing by the government. The fourth estate plays a significant role in society because without the press acting as the fourth estate, the government would get away with a lot, and the public wouldn't know anything about it.