The First Amendment and You

The significance of the First Amendment is that it protects people in media against people not liking what they say or write. Reporters can go a write a story knowing that they are able to write what they want without being to bias but to an extent that they don’t necessarily piss people off. But then again since they are protected by the first amendment they have the freedom of speech and can do and say what’s on their mind specifically about the government. In news today you hear about people criticizing the government and how they don’t trust it and how’s it run poorly. Saying this through speech’s and news allows them to be protected from the government and other people that disagree because the First Amendment specifically prohibits government interference in free expression, religion and individual and public protests against government policies. In the media you are also allowed to talk about religion in anyway you want as long as you aren’t promoting it to people as in that they should change their religion. There is also a free expression provision that is also placed with the First Amendment that protects peoples rights and which states that the First Amendment ban against government abridgment of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

The importance of the first Amendment

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

The first amendment is so important to journalists because it is the right to freedom of the press. A journalist has the right to report on what he or she wants to within what their boss allows them to do, or tells them to do. The point is that they have a right to report on what they and their station want, they are not restricted by the government. The government does have rules on libel to protect a citizen or company but they do not have restrictions on what they can publish about the government or famous people.

This Amendment is also so important to journalists because they can serve as watch dogs to the government. When the government becomes corrupt, the media can find out and publish information about it. This is the same for big business, when these businesses get corrupt, the media will try to uncover this. The people that do uncover these sorts of scandals, rather than being punished, are rewarded for their intelligence and ability to uncover a mystery. The reason they are able to be praised, is all thanks to the first amendment.

This is a link on a talk show where the interviewer asks when should the first amendment “lose”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxHExkcWKFo

Democratic Mass Media

Mass media within the United States represents the democratic political system globally. The United States being a democratic society gives mass media more power through laws such as freedom of speech. Mass media has the right to show, within reason; whatever they feel is best fit for the audience they are trying to reach. Globally mass media from the United States is representative of the democratic political system in which it is located. Many other countries do not have the ability to watch, and say what they want at their own free will. When compared to other countries mass media within the United States gives has the ability to reflect the feelings and cultural trends across the country.
The democratic political system of the United States is shown across the globe not only politically, but in the reflection from mass media. Having the ability to choose the shape of mass media through the direction of society shows the democratic abilities of mass media. These abilities is what makes US mass media stand apart from mass media across the globe, leaving all the power within the citizens of the country mass media is sourcing from.
-Michael Bouchie

Hyping it up!

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

Mass media goes off of what reporters think the public will be interested in but it often makes the public interested in what they produce. Agenda setting is when the media plays up what it thinks the public will be interested in and the media only focuses on this issue, no matter what else is happening at the time. Often Agenda setting is not actually newsworthy, and is simply the press putting too much attention on famous people, and what is happening to them.

For example, the royal wedding, in America all of our press is covering the royal wedding. It is not pertinent to us as Americans, it does not affect us, but they are famous so every single news station covers it and because they hype it up so much more people watch and care about it than ever would if it was not all hyped up.

What I Have Learned

Intro To Mass Media has taught me many things, from how technology has progressed into the technology I use today, to how media is presented to the public. The most valuable thing I learned this semester is media literacy, and how to establish what message is being sent by the media, and to whom it is being sent. In a world where everyone is becoming more Internet savvy and the world is spreading news much faster and easier it is important to know the intent of the information being presented. Everything else that was learned throughout the duration of the course can be broken down into being literate in the media.The information gathered during my group project about children and television also showed a strong need for media literacy because parents need to know what their children are watching and how it can impact growth and development physically, mentally, and socially. Similarly Mark Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook allows many people to get in touch with each other and take advantage of a widely used site to call attention to issues across the globe just as Twitter does. In order to effectively use these sites one has to have a concept of media literacy. This course has taught me to look for the hidden messages in the media and realize what it is there for.

The Media's Position on Issues

A fundamental purpose of the media is to serve the audience. This service to the people done by the media may not always be the "best", with issues depicted in the media quickly taking place of issues not being presented in ways for the audience to form opinions. For example, the B.P. oil spill is no longer getting significant coverage as the aftermath continues to affect the people involved, but the Royal Wedding is being covered by major news stations. The gatekeepers who decide which news will be covered greatly affect the agenda of the public. Without knowledge on an issue, people can not make an informed decision.

Ethics also plays a large role in the way news is presented, with questions constantly being raised about the means of acquiring information. For example Potter's Box, a tool used to sort through ethics questions, can help journalists and reporters to contribute sufficient information to their audience, without compromising the informants etc. This is not an easy job to maintain because there are many different views on what is right and fair, and what is not. However, with most information coming from some media outlet, the public's agenda on issues like ethics or immediate news is greatly affected.

Freedom of Speech For The Press

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and in today's society opinions are everywhere. Every newspaper, magazine, or online resource etc. has an opinion section. The First Amendment gives Americans the freedom for speech, and the right to write what they want. The news media is an extremely important piece of this right because without the news media it would be very difficult to find out about the world around us. Newspapers write stories about government, global policy, international affairs, social trends etc. and without this ability many things would go unknown.


With that in mind, the Freedom of Speech is so significant to the press because without this freedom we would live in a dictatorship and not a democracy. People around the nation have different opinions, and the opinions of an individual could possibly be affected positively or negatively according to what information the news media is allowed to produce. If there were laws concerning what is allowed to be written anywhere, as opposed to rules about obscenity etc., many people would not have the information that they possess simply because it would not be available to them. Furthermore, in the words of Harold R. Medina, an American lawyer and judge, "If you don't have this freedom of the press, then all these little fellows are weaseling around and doing their monkey business and they never get caught."

http://www.quotegarden.com/censorship.html