essay on freedom of media

Essay on Freedom of the Press for Students and Children

500 words essay on freedom of the press.

Freedom of the press is the most important wheel of democracy. Without a free press, a democracy cannot exist. In fact, the press is a great medium that conveys the truth to people. However, it cannot function fully if the press is not free.

People must have heard the saying about the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance. Thus, it is the media’s responsibility to remain vigil for people’s safety. Moreover, the freedom of people is monitored by the media. The press watches those in power to ensure they do not misuse it. In order to do this, freedom of the press is required.

Importance of Freedom of the Press

The press has been given the responsibility of checking and balancing the administration and the government. Whenever there is a social evil lurking or corruption and oppression happens, the press is the first one to raise a voice.

Moreover, we trust the press to collect verify and disseminate the facts and figures which influence people’s decisions. If the press won’t have the liberty to do all this, the people will be in the dark.

Therefore, we see how if even any one of these liberties is take away from the press, the voiceless will lose their voice. Worse yet, if the press will be denied to do their job, the ones in power will run the country as per their will. This will result in uninformed citizens who will thus become powerless.

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Moreover, we see how censorship of the press is nothing less than a dictatorship. When the government imposes censorship on the press, it obviously means they are trying to hide something. A person only hides lies and not the truth. Thus, this way the citizens will be manipulated into thinking there is nothing wrong with the government. Subsequently, when there remains no agency to report the truth, the government will gain absolute power.

In short, freedom of the press is important for the smooth functioning of democracy. It is important for people to be socially aware of happenings in the world. One must have the power to criticize the government; it will keep the administration on their toes to do better for the country.

Responsibility a Free Press

As we can conclude from the earlier statements, the press has a huge responsibility on their shoulders. They need to be vigilant and honest. Media has a powerful role to play in any form of government, whether democratic or totalitarian. The information they distribute helps in shaping the views of the public.

When you have such a power to influence the views of a whole public, then you must be even more responsible. In fact, the media is sometimes more powerful than the government. They have people’s trust and support. However, such a power given to any individual or agency is quite dangerous.

In other words, any media without restraints can be hazardous. As they have the power to showcase anything, they may report anything and twist the facts as per their agendas. They have the power to cause outrage amongst the people. A free press can easily manipulate the public’s opinion. This is why we need responsible journalism to refrain the media from reporting false facts which may harm the harmony and peace of a country.

FAQs on Freedom of the Press

Q.1 Why is freedom of the press important?

A.1 Freedom of the press is important for keeping people informed. A free press monitors the administration and forces them to work for the betterment of the country.

Q.2 What is the responsibility of a free press?

A.2 A free press has a huge responsibility of reporting the truth and shaping people’s opinions. Responsible journalism must be practiced to stop people from spreading hate and maintaining the harmony of a country.

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Freedom of the Press Essay

Introduction.

In any society, the media is relied upon to provide information on the events that happen both locally and internationally. The media is trusted to provide unbiased information, but this is not always the case. In the essay, we will try and find out if the media is an enemy of law enforcement.

The first amendment to the US constitution states that:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances (Norton, 1996).

The press clause in this amendment has seen the media exercise too much freedom in their dissemination of information. The media is characterized by the reporting of news that interest the public so as to boost their ratings.

They therefore, use any means that they think are entertaining and appealing to their audience. In the area of crime, the media puts crime news in contexts that can be understood by the masses. The media ensures that there is policy accountability in their course of duty. The media ensures this by exposing inefficiency and corruption cases (Norton, 1996).

However, the media has not been all that partial in the dissemination of information and this has, on many occasions, been a problem to law enforcers. Because the media knows that their rights are protected by the constitution, they have gone to the extent of dwelling more on major misconduct from law enforcers.

The media ignores or does not cover everyday activities of the police because such events are not pleasing to the audience and will therefore, not raise their ratings. Police work is often distorted by the media which tends to only concentrate on crime and ignores other police activities not related to crime. They therefore, only highlight the negative side of law enforcement (Freedom, 2008).

This problem is also experienced in court cases whereby the media is often accused of press releases of information that should not be released before court cases are discharged. This has, on some occasions affected court decisions because jurors will have already formed prejudices about the case.

Too much publicity also risks having an impartial jury, the constitutions protects the media, meaning that courts have to employ other measures such as changing the venue. When writing the constitution, the writers knew that it was necessary to protect citizens from the government. They knew that it was important to let people air out their sentiments, but one should take caution about what he gives to the public (Freedom, 2008).

All has not been that bad with the media. For instance, the media helped in the capture of the Oklahoma City bomber when they aired it on the radio and ran sketches of the suspects on television. The Washington post also helped in the capture of the Unabomber when it published his manifesto.

On reading the manifesto, the brother quickly recognized it and alerted the police who apprehended him. However, in the “Alfred P. Murrah Federal office building” bombing case, the two accused men filed a request to dismiss the prosecution because they said that the trial had been prejudiced by the publicity made by the media. Their plea was accepted, but court proceedings were transferred to another court (Summary, n.d).

These cases show that media plays a very important role in the world and whether it is negative or positive, the forefathers were not mistaken, and the media should be free to provide checks and balances where necessary.

Freedom. (2008). Freedom of the Press. America Government. Web.

Norton, J. (1996). United States Constitution Amendments Article I of the Bill of Rights. Bare Foot Sword. Web.

Summary. (n.d). Summary and Conclusion. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2019, February 20). Freedom of the Press. https://ivypanda.com/essays/freedom-of-the-press/

"Freedom of the Press." IvyPanda , 20 Feb. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/freedom-of-the-press/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Freedom of the Press'. 20 February.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Freedom of the Press." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/freedom-of-the-press/.

1. IvyPanda . "Freedom of the Press." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/freedom-of-the-press/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Freedom of the Press." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/freedom-of-the-press/.

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Essay on Media Freedom

Over the last decade, media freedom has deteriorated globally, threatening the fundamental right to seek and distribute information through an independent press. This has a continuing negative impact on the state of democracy by limiting the democratic principle of transparency. By making various government operations available to the public for debate and scrutiny, free media helps to ensure transparency. This has not been the case in recent years, with attempts from all levels of government to infringe on this right. Populist leaders have attempted to stifle media freedom in a variety of ways, influencing the media to no longer provide unbiased news and information. Some of these attempts have included: public shaming of honest journalists’ moral standings, proactive support for friendly media outlets, governments taking over media houses, regulatory and financial pressure, all in an attempt to coerce them to comply on the type of information to report. Financial resilience crises in the media sector in South Africa have recently been exacerbated by the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic; threats to the point of harassment against journalists by politicians and even the police; and job losses by journalists have all contributed significantly to recent key media freedom inhibitors.

During the recent Covid 19 pandemic, media freedom was put to the test by the coverage of the Covid vaccine rollout. Despite the government’s efforts to encourage its citizens to take the vaccines, the public has raised a number of concerns about them. As ethical journalists, the media must take a neutral stance in reporting on the roll out in order to provide accurate and unbiased information. There are important guidelines that should be followed by an ethical journalist when reporting on the issue.

All data gathered and reported should come from reputable sources. Any information used should come from well-informed sources who are well-versed in covid 19 and vaccines. For up-to-date information on any developments, this could include material from the World Health Organization or the country’s science media center.

As a journalist, you must be cautious not to blindly trust any data. One should be willing and ready to question stakeholders about any data collected, including raw data and research methods. This will aid in preventing the publication or reporting of doctored information, which would otherwise mislead the public.

Any data reported should be the result of extensive research. Preliminary data may not provide the required complete peer-reviewed report, resulting in misinformation. In the case of comprehensive reports or studies, they should be critically read to ensure comprehension of information and thus improve accuracy of reporting. The information reported should not be based solely on press releases, but rather on a deeper dive into the studies or research.

The benefits of the vaccine should also be clearly communicated in order to provide information to anyone who may have been interested in getting vaccinated. This should be supported by facts and figures on vaccine efficacy throughout history. Any potential side effects should also be specified. The demographics of trial participants should be included in the reporting to help people understand the efficacy of the vaccines across different populations.

Reid, J., Skinner, K. and Daniels, G., 2020. Media freedom in South Africa today: unravelling multifarious threats toward a research and advocacy response. Communicatio: South African Journal of Communication Theory and Research, 46(3), pp.1-19.

Repucci, S., 2019. Freedom and the media: A downward spiral. Freedom House. Available at https://freedomhouse. org/report/freedom-media/freedom-media-2019. Accessed, 12.

Repucci, S., 2019. Media freedom: a downward spiral. Pribavljeno, 20, p.2020.

WHO, 2020. Tips for professional reporting on COVID-19 vaccines.

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The Freedom of Media: A Pillar of Democracy

Category: Sociology
Topic: Media , Role of Media

Pages: 1 (365 words)

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