Freedom Struggle for Media: Law, Media & Communication Essay 2020

This essay provides a critical analysis of the media's struggle for freedom of expression, emphasizing the importance of press freedom in a democratic society. It discusses the powers and responsibilities of the media, the challenges it faces in the modern world, and the influence it wields over public opinion. The essay also examines instances of media repression and violence against journalists, highlighting the need for greater protection and independence for the media to ensure the free flow of information and the accountability of governments and powerful individuals. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

[Freedom Struggle for Media is real]
Critical analysis of the media’s struggle in relation with freedom to express.
2020
University
Student Credentials

Law, Media and Communication 1
Freedom Struggle for Media is real
Introduction
Media for a citizen is something that is trustable and also might be the only source of
connection to the world. In today’s world, media is so powerful that it can influence any
individual. People might not be able to use internet as in some parts of the world people do
not have access to internet but they do watch television and stay connected with what is
happening throughout the world (Strauss, 2017).
Press Freedom or the term freedom of press is a kind of assurance provided by the
government so that the citizens or the public can freely access the press. It is not just the
citizens but also their associations can also access the press freely by this guarantee. It also
extends to other members of the news be them journalists or even organizations that gather
news, it includes all of the reporting they have done or whatever has been published. Apart
from everything mentioned, it extends to various other areas of press such as the one where
the whole procedure including gathering the news, refining it as well as obtaining the
information for the use of public in general (Katz et al., 2017). Most of the countries provide
this right to the media, but there are also some other countries that do not assist media or
control them so that it works in accordance with the government’s provision or in accordance
with the directs by the authorities. Media throughout the world is not protected in all the
countries by the provision of the constitution or the Bill of Rights in accordance with the
press freedom (Konvitz, 2018).
As when the information in accordance with the government is talked about, the government
holds the right as well as the authority to categorize the material that needs protection from
public or not (KLEIN, 2017). Classifying information is something that is done by the

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government, particularly as the information which is in any manner sensitive, kind of secret
or even classified or just in manner needs to be protected and not shared with the public in the
name of national interest. On the other hand, there are many other governments that in some
or the other manner are subject to the legislation of freedom of information which in itself is
generally used to explain the situation revolving national interest. In the below debate, there
are mainly two kinds of discussions that are being focused upon. One of which is how free
media or press is right now, the powers it entails and how it influences public in general, the
idea behind this is to know how importance the freedom of media or press is; while the
second part refers to the restrictions that have been laid upon in certain countries and the
situation revolving around media in general in conservative and politically controlled
countries.
How important is the freedom of Media?
Media in general has been provided the authority and rights to report the truest form of
information that has been gathered, while it has also been restricted with certain policies and
duties that media people need to follow (Whitten-Woodring & Van Belle, 2017). Press is
expected to be independent, free and the pluralistic form of information that needs to be
shared with the public. It is entirely based upon the freedom both of the expression as well as
the information and is considered the core element of all the large democracies that re
functioning well (Bukar et al., 2019). This kind of freedom, the freedom of media plays a
vital role in the human rights being protected as it clearly shows what is happening round the
world and what needs to be stopped. It is not just about any particular kind of human rights
violations but many people who have been a prominent and renowned member of the media
industry such as various journalists have proved to be saviours of several people who have
been saved from conditions that were inhumane. Many cases where discrimination or misuse
of power or torture of any kind and also corruption was taking place all have been highlighted

Law, Media and Communication 3
by these investigative media or press people which ultimately led to lives being saved or
people being provided their basic human rights. The first step in order to address the
violations of human rights and holding authorities and even government in some cases
accountable, is making known the facts of the situation, which is again a work of media
professionals (Schneider, 2020).
Media has played a very important role in enlightening people with the information related to
what is happening round the world. It has reached in areas that were unable to reach and
several reporters and journalists have made it their duty to provide citizens and public with
the truth. Media has enlightened people or the public about the political pressures and the
evolution of the governments, the real picture behind the political image and as such to make
the public aware and help with their decision making. Also, it is not just that the media shows
a negative picture only; they deal with showing and reaching out to public with the reality
(Repucci, 2020).
In general aspect, freedom of press is quite important as well, though, in the recent times, the
situation revolving around the freedom of press has been deteriorating. It is not just limited to
a nation or two, but whole countries have been a part of this repression. There have been
various instances where media personnel were attacked, freedom that media holds was
violated, violent threats were made, murders took place and as such, just so that the real
picture does not come out or the investigation is stopped (Kirschner & Rather, 2018).
Freedom of press assists with circulation of information as well as the thoughts of the citizens
which ultimately help in the development of the knowledge of each individual by making
them aware of the situations surrounding them as in political, national, or just in general. It is
not just that but the governments also interact with the public through it, for instance the
speeches and notifications that government wants known to the public, and similarly media

Law, Media and Communication 4
also assists the public to communicate, as in it ensures that the word or the collective thought
of individuals reaches the government or the men in authority (D'Arcy, 2017). Media also
provides individuals or the so said public a mode to call for attention in scenarios where in
circumstances there has been a violation of rights as such. It also assists individuals to reach
out to the government and talk clearly about their issues. Help in relation with the
government to keep a close eye upon how they are perceived by the general public in
association with the policy changes and as such is provided by the media.
Challenges being faced by the media in modern times
Media in current world faces various challenges on day to day basis to provide unadulterated
information and provide assistance to people throughout the world. There has been constant
repression and violation throughout the world of the media’s freedom. Especially in states of
Europe it is quite evident that the media is managed by the government and there a clear
restriction upon what and how the government is shown or limited aspects can only be talked
about by the media. In order to hamper the media’s pluralism as well as the independence,
many different ways of force are being used throughout the world. Throughout the years
there has been constant control of powerful people over media as such that it has moulded the
whole system of press according to their own thoughts (The Hindu, 2013).
The leaders who are popular in the most influential democracies have repeatedly tried to
threaten the independence this sector beholds. Constant attempts have been made by such
people to ensure that there is no such information reported to the public that is harmful to
them in any manner (Mohdin & Zee, 2018). Journalists have been threatened to be killed or
murdered, there are clear evidences of such open threats being made by powerful individuals
(Swart, 2019). Many have had to lose their jobs or switch between various ones and even be
deprived of their liberty. There has been clear documentation of scenarios where media sector

Law, Media and Communication 5
has faced several kinds of intimidation, as well as harassment, murders and other kinds of
violence and torture (O'Grady, 2019).
According to a research by Committee to Protect Journalists or widely known as CPJ, around
more than 72 Journalists were killed due to the work they did in 2015 (ShareAmerica, 2016).
Incidents like the one of Daphne Caruana Galizia keep on happening time and again. This
woman tried reporting the reality behind Malta’s Prime Minister as well as his political allies
which could have led to the downfall of the government (Lalwani, 2019). Several other
journalists like Anna Politkovskaya and Daniel Pearl were killed just so that they do not get
to report anything on the terrorist schemes of certain organizations (SIMON, 2018). There
has been a constant thread of threats being imposed on the media globally. These are rapidly
increasing and deteriorating the situation revolving around the media sector. In fact the
impact it has on the democracy of the country or the state makes it more dangerous and
horrifying.
Power of Media
Another aspect that needs to be discussed here is the fact that media nowadays has become so
powerful that it is easy for press to manipulate or influence people. A particular fact that is
not thoroughly researched or does not have a strong background might lead to public outrage
or even make or destroy a particular person’s career or government’s regime. Media has a
huge influence on the people in general (Vargo et al., 2018). Each and every individual has
free access to media be it in any form, internet, television, mobiles and what not. Though
there is something called the human psychology and every person perceives a certain kind of
information according to their own ideologies and what they have learnt in life (Klein, 2017).
Moulding the truth according to what is convenient or expressing facts only until a certain
limit is something that can convey a wrong message. People can misinterpret small threads of
information. Media personnel need to maintain the dignity of an individual involved as well.

Law, Media and Communication 6
There are other ways as well in which media needs to be aware of its work and the
repercussions it can cause. With every power comes responsibility. Though media holds a
significant power relating to what can be shown to the public eye or in the manner it needs to
be portrayed or even the gruesomeness the world entails everything can be openly shared
with people or the public, but, there are certain limitations to every fiasco that can be shared
on the television or any print media. Since information is rarely age restricted and almost
each and every individual can access it from where ever they want, media needs to be
responsible enough to share what is appropriate for all (The Hindu, 2013).
Media’s influence on individual is not just limited to voting or political aspects but affects
humans in almost every aspect of human life, these can initiate from the political beliefs of
individuals as in how they report everything and portray every party, religious beliefs as well
can be affected by the media as individuals can get influenced and might even get different
thoughts related to religion, and knowledge and perspective of an individual depending upon
the originality of the facts being provided to the individuals (Moore et al., 2017). Media holds
a huge power in its hands and which is why it is considered as the key ingredient to the
modern society. There are certain duties as well that these media professionals need to abide
by in order to make things easier for people to understand and that too not in a gruesome
manner. This sector is an ever –changing sector, information keeps on changing and is
renewed on the base of other factors or the reliable sources (Taras & Davis, 2019).
Conclusion
In the recent times, media sector has been facing some serious criticism by the public. The
influence of media in general has changed from what it was in the old times. Things have
changed and the public now has become quite aware of the situation revolving around them.
Public now is keen on questioning the media people as well as the authorities which provide
information. Media has long lasting effects, youngsters are much more aware of the situation

Law, Media and Communication 7
and the circumstances of the scenario that is being reported upon. As the media has been
evolving and coping with the changes in the surrounding environment, it still remains the
most influential and thoughts of people round the world are still affected by it. Researchers
have given it a lot of thought and after which they concluded that the media not just
influences a certain aspects of a human life but the way how humans think. It psychologically
influences individuals and affects the behaviour of public as well. Media sector needs to be
aware of that, so that they provide apt and true information, though it is not that easy to just
report what they want to. There are several other challenges that they face in order to do so.
There are certain duties and responsibilities that these people need to keep in mind so that
there are no negative effects of the same. Wrongly influencing individuals or public is
something that can be very damaging. It can have adverse effects as well. The information
media experts provide needs to be well researched and the truth without any adulteration.
Media experts need to make sure that there are not many serious repercussions of small issues
that do not need much attention. The information that these individuals talk about need to be
clear without any chances of misinterpretation or second meaning as they need to realise that
the information that they are providing or airing is quite influential and everyone is going to
read or view it.

Law, Media and Communication 8
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