Friday, December 3, 2010

What is the significance of the first amendment with speech and press?

The first amendment prohibits government interference in free expression, religion and individual and public protests against government policies. The freedom expression provision is the First Amendment ban against government abridgement of freedom of speech and freedom of press. Freedom of expression was limited in the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. However, the government cannot suppress a publication in advance. Government restrictions can be justified in a time of war. An action has to pass the Incitement Standard, a four-part test, to determine whether an advocacy speech is constitutionally protected.

In the press, this gives the press the freedom to work as a watchdog against the government. This makes investigative journalism possible. This is beneficial to the people because unlike authoritarians, the government cannot censor certain articles that portray them negatively. In speech, this gives people the right to state their own opinions without having repercussions. Yet, public endangerment is not permitted. You cannot yell “fire” in a crowd of people. You can speak your opinion about heath care at an event.

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

The First Amendment is extremely important with speech and press because the first amendment literally guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of press. This allows for the press to be able to say just about whatever they want without fear of prosecution. This means that the press can cover any topic they want including the topic of the government. The press can freely report on the government to the people of the government it is representing. The press and media's most important audience is the common people. Also the idea of freedom of speech gave room for the development of new ideas and thoughts. This freedom of speech and press allows the media to educate people on what is happening in the world and they don't have to hold back and they can tell the whole truth. The media is known as the fourth branch of government and the first amendment s where all that branch's power comes from. The Media does not have any power to make laws or change laws or anything like that but it does have the power to influence the people of the country and in the people is where the real power is.

What is the significance of the first amendment with speech and press?

The foremost and most obvious significance of the first amendment with speech and press is the right to free expression. The first amendment strongly stresses free expression and since that is such a powerful bond with the media, the amendment and the press are significantly linked to one another. The first amendment protects the media and allows for a “market place of ideas” as John Milton said.

It definitely is beneficial to some extent because there is an endless pool or opinions and views out there. Nevertheless, it can cause many problems because people might feel that they are protected no matter what they do or say even if it meant saying something wrong that can jeopardize someone else’s life.

How does mass media reflect a political system globally?

The mass media reflects a political system globally because media and democracy are so intertwined. They rely on each other and mirror one another. The more freedom the media and press has the more liberal a country is. In a kingdom or dictatorship for example, the media would definitely have more restrictions. This is how media reflects political systems. Even within the US, different states have different political stances and thus the media exposed in each state varies from conservative or liberal thinking.

Authoritarian governments control their media and censorship is very high in those countries. China, for instance, experiences extreme control and regulation from the government. The media has virtually no freedom and the people don’t know anything about the outside world. Here, the media reflects a strict and severe government that does not allow liberal thought.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

How does mass media reflect a political system globally?

Media freedom determines the rights of citizens within a country’s political system. Libertarianism emphasizes the ability of the people to reason their own way to right conclusions and therefore believes humans are capable of their own governance. This would be democracy. There is an emphasis on liberty and individual rights. This includes the first amendment, the free expression section of the U.S. Constitution. Democracy and freedom are prominent in Western and East-central Europe. These places experience more freedom as citizens and in the media. There is free and open exchange of information and ideas.

Contrastingly, there is authoritarianism. These have leaders are in control. These are countries that are ruled by dictators like Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In authoritarianism there is strong control of and censorship media. Authorities have to preview material before dissemination. Authoritarians think that people should be praised if they support the government. Those who are unfaithful or criticize the government should be banished. These citizens are controlled more that libertarianism citizens. They do now have the freedoms in media or government that we as American citizens have. They are sheltered from events happening in the media that the government views as negative. For example, the Chinese government limited Internet communication, especially from outside the country. They say it is to eliminate false news, superstition, or obscenity. It is also used to control media messages and shelter the audience.

How does the mass media shape the public's agenda of issues?

As media scholars Maxwell McCombs and Don Shaw once said, the media dont tell people what to think but rather what to think about. The media shapes the publics agenda of issues because the media is essentially choosing the issues. Newspapers and newsstations can not possibly cover every piece of news because of lack of time and space. The media must decide what stories are news and what stories are not. they also decide what stories make the front page, and what stories have the most coverage. By doing this the media shapes the publics agenda of issues. News stories that are most publisized and recieve the most attention by the media, are the stories that are at the top of the public's agenda of issues. The media also decides who the audience percievs an issue. The way they tell a story can influence how the public reacts to that story. Usually, as the saying goes, if it bleeds it leads, and so stories that are more dramatic and shocking are at the top of the publics agenda of issues. Political issues can be heavily shaped by the media as well. The more a political issue is seen in the mass media, the more attention it gets, and the higher that issue climbs on the publics agenda of issues. Every

What is the significance of the fourth estate?

The fourth estate is the press as a player in medieval power structures in addition to the clerical, noble, and common estates. The term is applied to all journalistic activity today. Its job is to monitor the other branches as an external check on behalf of the people. It has adapted the watchdog role. That is the concept of the press as a skeptical and critical monitor of the government. An example of this is investigative journalism and The Hummel Report. Their job is to uncover things about the government or on goings that are not covered by major news stations. This is beneficial to the people because we have few ways of uncovering these things ourselves and criticizing the government. Things like Watergate would not be revealed if it weren’t for journalists who ask as watchdogs.