Michael Angelo
Michael Angelo
Michael Angelo
FridayFeb 9 at 10:08am
Manage Discussion Entry
While censorship and protecting sources are also threats to freedom of speech, I don’t believe that they are nearly as realistic as severe biases.
Nathaniel,
Are you saying that you would take bias over censorship? If so, I agree.
People in society cannot go out individually and gather all the information in the world themselves. It would be an impossible task, and that is why we have journalists. Journalists gather and disseminate information, acting as the public’s voice. Therefore, it is imperative that journalists are allowed to have the freedom to report the truth.
Censorship poses the greatest danger to journalists and a free press. Censorship inhibits freedom of expression. In essence, any form of censorship alters the meaning of the original work and the true meaning is lost.
In “On Censorship,” Rushdie states that “if the creative artist worries if he will still be free tomorrow, then he will not be free today. If he is afraid of the consequences of his choice of subject or of his manner of treatment of it, then his choices will not be determined by his talent, but by fear” (2012).
This fear can be imposed by governments, religious organizations, or any group that has a large stake in the outcome of how much “truth” is reported. If any of these groups has an influence over the content of the news, then the free press in society is not truly free (Jacquette, 2007).
Jacquette (2007) states that “we rely on journalists for the information by which we in a free society participate in self-government. We must know in order to judge, and we must judge in order to act, to govern ourselves collectively in a sustainable free society.”
It is the moral responsibility of journalists to provide truthful information to its citizens so they can make rational decisions as that information pertains to society. This is why it’s important to have a free press.
But we should also use our brains, and realize that one news source alone does not a story make. I’m afraid we are not using our brains but rather our biases to “censor” facts we do not like, spinning them to fit our worldview.
I’m not sure we gain anything by this exercise in censoring opposing views. Very sad!
References
Rushdie, S. (2012, May 11). On Censorship. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/on-censorship.
Jacquette, D. (2007). Journalistic Ethics: Moral Responsibility in the Media. Pearson Education, Inc.
