Who rules //
A Free Press
Can you imagine what life would be like without the media? No radio to listen to while you're getting ready for school, no internet to trail through for information, no TV to watch for entertainment, no newspapers to read about the latest news from around the world. What would you do? Where would you get information from? What information would you need or want to hear and see? Why would you want it?
Media don't exist just to entertain us. In a democracy the media provide us with important information. They can give us a range of opinions which we might not otherwise hear.
Freedom of speech
That's what a free press is all about: allowing us to find out what we want to know without restrictions. If some members of the press think the government is doing a bad job, then they should be free to say so. If others think the government is the best thing since sliced bread, then they too should be heard.
Hearing different opinions allows us to make up our own minds instead of having them made up for us. An effective democracy is one where people know what's going on and so can make informed choices and decisions.
No secrets
You probably agree that we should be free to access the information we're interested in. But is this always a good idea? What about during wartime? Do we need to know the ins and outs of the army's plans? If a newspaper printed where the army were planning on going and what they were going to do, could this cause problems? Information is generally free to come by unless it's very sensitive. In these cases it is censored.
Government control
Some countries don't have press freedom and their governments tightly control the media. They only want people to hear positive things about them so that they can stay in power. Furthermore, anyone who publishes or broadcasts something against the government faces stiff penalties – in some places this could even be death.
Censored
When there are restrictions on what people can see and hear, this is called censorship. By censoring something, you are preventing the whole truth coming out or stopping something being seen or heard at all. It's a bit like when you're watching something on TV and parts of the picture are blurred so you can't see, or when words are beeped.
Secrets
Sometimes the government decides that some information is too sensitive to be out in the open and that it could place the country under threat (for example, information about terrorists, or military plans). Everyone who has access to this information, such as government employees, has to sign the Official Secrets Act; if they reveal the information to anyone, they could be prosecuted and even imprisoned. Official Secrets must remain undisclosed for thirty years. After the time limit expires, the information is made available to the public.
Key Points
- Democracies encourage a free press.
- A free press is allowed (within reason) to print and say what it likes about the government.
- Sometimes the government decides to restrict information during an emergency, such as a war.
- Being able to access different views and opinions allows us to decide what we think about issues for ourselves.
- Some countries heavily censor and control the media in order to prevent any bad views about their government.
Reality Bytes: The People's Republic of China and the Internet
The media in China are tightly controlled by the government. The government is particularly strict with the use of the internet as it opens up access to all sorts of information. Everyone who wants to host their own website in China has to get a licence from the government. The content of the website also has to be approved. The government also controls what users can access on the internet. Many websites are blocked by the government so that users are denied access.
Getting information through
People in other countries try to find ways of letting Chinese internet users access the forbidden sites by emailing instructions to individuals telling them how to bypass the rules, but the Chinese government employs people specifically to search for these emails and block them. Blocked websites include news sites from other countries, sites that promote democracy and religious sites. There are penalties for people found to have broken the rules.
Interesting Facts
- The Freedom of Information Act states that there should be free access to information about the government, individuals and businesses.
- 40% of homes in Britain have access to the internet – that's around ten million people.
Big Questions
- Do you think the internet should be somewhere for people to publish anything they like even if it might offend others, or should there be some form of control and censorship?
- Why might news websites from other countries be banned in China?
- Do you think the 9pm TV watershed should be kept or removed? Or should it be moved to an earlier or later time?
