Term Paper 4

 Taylor Rich

MCOM-1003

Professor Reppert

November 8, 2020

Term Paper 4

In 1791, the First Amendment of the US Constitution granted freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the right to assemble to most American citizens. Although at the time these rights didn’t specifically include all minority groups, the American Constitution has over the course of time, granted these rights to all American citizens. Living in a time period in a place where these rights are given to us, it is almost impossible to imagine a place where freedom of the press is not granted, and where it is not accessible at our fingertips. But even today, there are countless countries that are limited in their press and access to the news. For this essay, I will be discussing the freedom of the press in America in comparison to countries who do not experience the same freedoms as American journalists do. 

Journalism is the expression of an unbiased production and distribution of reports based on facts and supported by evidence. The appropriate role of journalism is defined differently according to where you reside in the world. In some countries, a large obstacle journalists face is the censorship that harms the coverage of these sensitive and hurtful topics. In countries around the world, censorship in the media is used to silence journalists and allow terrible incidents to be unheard/unseen by the public. According to the “Committee to Protect Journalists”, the ten most censored countries in the world include China, Vietnam, and North Korea. These countries ban and use strict measures against individual journalists by threatening imprisonment, digital and physical monitoring, and several other forms of harassment. This forced silence on the media allows the government to have full control on what news is delivered to the public eye. According to the website, China has one of the world’s most extensive censorship apparatus and for almost two decades, the country has been among the world’s top jailers of journalists. In China, the internet has been blocked to prevent any social media platform from displaying news, and has an extensive monitoring system in social media and internet search engines to disable and monitor any news service. 

Government censorship and oppression in the media are long-standing issues that occur in numerous parts of the world. Compared to countries such as Ethiopia, Iran, and Syria, the United States has far greater access and protection for the journalists in America. Journalists all over the world live in constant fear and danger because of their chosen profession. According to Forbes.com, for the past four years there have been at least 250 journalists across the world imprisoned for releasing unauthorized news. 

This diagram demonstrates the number of imprisoned journalists, worldwide. According to the diagram (in 2019), China remained at the highest number of imprisoned journalists with an astounding forty-eight journalists in jail. 

Journalists face constant fear and limitation in their profession across the world, but they are not limited to the amount of opposition and oppression that occurs in their everyday lives. Not only do journalists face oppression from the lack of representation and freedom from the government, they also face their own country’s independence. Leaders of countries, such as the president of Egypt, restrict their country and silence voices of anyone who disagrees with him or his established policies. Since the beginning of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s rule, the Egyptian government has found new and extreme ways to censor and limit freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Egypt’s government, while oppressive and opposed to the basic rights of journalism, is not the only representation across the globe in which government’s limit freedom of speech. 

The limitations on journalism in countries across the world consist of the many attacks against press freedom in large democracies. For example, many countries limit voices across social media that do not display the same political beliefs, and instead support only the ones who encourage the chosen leaders. Government censorship over social media varies in each country, but countries located in Asia are generally strongly prohibited in their freedom through the internet. China carries one of the heaviest censors on its technology, restricting its citizens from Western news. The Chinese firewall is the strongest and most advanced web censoring system in the world, tracking and monitoring its users with intense punishments if members of the public even comment on or like an unregulated news post. 

Although the government has a large control in the profession of journalism and the realm of freedom of speech, the prevailing question is whether or not these countries will be able to restrict freedom of the press with the growing age of Internet and social media. Many believe the oppressed journalists will finally be liberated as this age of technology continues over time, but there is always the possibility that countries can develop a software such as China’s and monitor internet access and the availability of internet inside the country. The progression of technology works both ways, an increased access to social media and the internet can allow further exploration of freedom of speech in some countries, as well as grant the governments to larger control over the availability inside their land. 

As it is commonly observed today, the profession of journalism is not an easy task to perform in places across the world. About 75% of countries across the world are categorized as “difficult, problematic, and very serious” in their restrictive respects against freedom of the press. 

The map below displays the range of freedoms across the world involving freedom of the press. This map symbolizes and displays the reality of oppression of freedom of speech across the world. 

Governments across the world continue to have control over the news and freedom of the press, but with this overwhelming year consisting of an election, worldwide pandemic, and a global shutdown, it is possible that the increase of news and social media platforms may be too large and important to the everyday lives of people to restrict any further. 

After analyzing the overwhelming impact of government censorship and limitations regarding freedom of speech in countries around the world, it is obvious that the profession of journalism is in danger in numerous ways. Imprisonment, monitoring, and many other challenges facing journalists is making this growing age of technology difficult to trust the publication of reliable news. Although American journalists remain protected in their freedoms, journalists across the world live in fear to accurately perform their jobs; this worldwide injustice should inspire protected journalists to pursue a future where all journalists can write the unbiased truth without living in fear.