3 December 2018
Abstract
Freedom of the press is a right that many people are aware of and take for granted. Not many people are aware of the fact that more people live in countries without freedom of the press than people that do. Unregulated press is necessary for a democracy, and without it the system of government becomes a dictatorship. This can be seen in multiple countries, but the best example is North Korea. In addition to the consequences of having a regulated press, there are also many benefits of having an unregulated press. The press serves as a watchdog for businesses, organizations, and the government. It calls them out whenever they do anything wrong, informing citizens of what is going on in the world. There is no other entity that can call out institutions and influence policy. Without unregulated press, the United States would have successfully covered up scandals such as the Watergate break in. People would not have been informed, and United States citizens, in general, would much rather be informed than ignorant.
Keywords: press, dictatorship, media, democracy
Why Unregulated Press is Good for Society
Freedom of the press is one of the most well-known rights of the American people, and it is exercised every day. People can say and report on whatever they want, and it is completely legal. This is necessary for a democracy because without it, the system would become a dictatorship.
The First Amendment declares: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The government cannot punish anyone for voicing their opinions in any way. This means that the press can perform its role in society: to agitate, investigate, and scrutinize our leaders and institutions. That freedom is what sets apart a democracy from a dictatorship.
Take North Korea, for example. If North Korea had freedom of the press, it would most likely be considered a democracy. Unfortunately, it does not. Because of this, North Korea has no independent journalists, and all radio and television receivers sold in the country are locked to government-specified frequencies. North Korea is not the only country that treats press as such. In fact, forty-five percent of people live in a country that suppresses freedom of the press (ACME, 2017). What these countries all have in common is the government has total control.
Print and electronic media in these countries are under heavy state control or influence. Some countries allow a few privately owned outlets to operate, but most of these are in the hands of regime loyalists. There has not been and independent media outlet in Eritrea since 2001. The country owns all media outlets, and even those that work for the heavily censored state press live in constant fear of arrest for any report perceived as a criticism of the ruling party, or on suspicion that they leaked information outside the country. Though most countries that limit free press own some or all outlets of it, not all countries do. Uzbekistan operates on a more non-traditional system, relying on cruel political intimidation to silence journalists, human rights activists, and the political opposition (“10 Most Censored Countries”).
They are also usually run by one person, “the dictator”. This person has remained in power for years by rigging elections and manipulating the media. The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, got the position after his father passed in 2011. The country has been under this leadership since 1948, when Kim dynasty took over (Photo & Campbell, 2017). It remains in control by manipulating the Korean people to think that the regime is wonderful, and punishes those that go against or try to expose it. In Eritrea, President Isaias Afwerki has been in power since 1993. He came to power by climbing up the political ranks when Eritrea was not yet an independent country. When it gained independence in 1993, Afwerki was elected both president and chairman of the aforementioned body, giving him control of the executive and legislative branches of government. As time went on, Afwerk’s regime became more and more repressive (Britannica, 2018), but he was able to remain in power by cultivating common fears that unite the citizens, yet dividing them by creating, maintaining, and enforcing divisions, distrust, and enmity among ethnic, religious, regional, and socio-political groups (Malk, 2018). In Uzbekistan, the first leader, Islam Karimov, was president for twenty-five years, despite that the constitution said a president could only be in office for two five year terms. After he died in 2016, a joint session of both houses of the Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan appointed Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev as interim president in September 2016. In December 2016, Mirziyoyev was elected president in a popular vote, though international observers described the election as not free and fair, due to restrictions on media reporting and ballot stuffing (Nechepurenko, 2017). This is what happens in countries without freedom of the press, and it is horrifying.
Luckily, the United States is not like this. In the United States, journalists can write about any incident, good or bad. Being able to publish bad news and call out public organizations and institutions benefits the people by raising awareness and getting certain people out of control. In 1972, Woodward and Bernstein exposed the Watergate break in. Their reporting led to indictments of forty administration officials and eventually, the resignation of President Nixon (Dews & Young, 2017). This benefited the United States by getting multiple people out of the government that had committed crimes. No one should be in the government if they are involved with committing crimes, and effective journalism calls these people out.
Senator Bob Packwood was called out by Florence Graves, founder of Common Cause Magazine after she decided to investigate sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill. Her story, which featured allegations from ten women, was published and led to the first-ever Senate Ethics Committee investigation of sexual misconduct. The senator resigned, and the Congressional Landmark Accountability Act was passed. This act subjects Congress to the same discrimination laws as the rest of the nation. In this situation, not only was someone removed from the government, but a new law was created to help prevent this from happening again.
Though United States’ citizens are guaranteed freedom of the press, the country’s Freedom of the Press score as of 2017 is twenty-three out of one-hundred, zero being the most free. The country with the lowest score, eight, is Norway (“Freedom of the Press 2017”, 2017). In Norway, journalists are not subject to censorship or political pressure. The media, in general, is also much more transparent with their audience due to lack of political pressure, unlike many media outlets in the United States. This keeps the society more informed, because less articles are leaning one way or the other.
That is what the press is supposed to do: keep people informed and keep governments, businesses, and other organizations in check. Without the freedom of the press, people wouldn’t be informed on what’s going on in the world. People wouldn’t know who or what to support and vote for. Additionally, no other institution has the power to talk to key leaders, inspire social change, and uncover corruption, while analyzing and providing context for major global events.
Without freedom of the press, the United States would probably become a dictatorship due to awareness not being raised about government wrongdoings through journalism. At least, that is what has happened in other countries that restrict the press, such as North Korea, Eritrea, and Uzbekistan. Though the United States is not the most journalist friendly place in the world, it is still much more press friendly than many other countries. In a world where many people are denied being informed and speaking their mind, it is reassuring to know that the United States is a country where the people can say and call out whoever they want. Freedom of the press has helped shape political policy in this country, and will continue to do so for years to come.
References
10 Most Censored Countries. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://cpj.org/reports/2006/05/10-most-censored-countries.php
ACME. (2017, April 28). Only 13% of world’s population enjoys a free press – Freedom House report. Retrieved from https://acme-ug.org/2017/04/28/only-13-of-worlds-population-enjoys-a-free-press-freedom-house-report/
Britannica, T. E. (2018, July 20). Isaias Afwerki. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaias-Afwerki
Dews, F., & Young, T. (2017, March 16). Ten Noteworthy Moments In U.S. Investigative Journalism. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2014/10/20/ten-noteworthy-moments-in-u-s-investigative-journalism/
Dews, F., & Young, T. (2017, March 16). Ten Noteworthy Moments In U.S. Investigative Journalism. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2014/10/20/ten-noteworthy-moments-in-u-s-investigative-journalism/
Malk, B. Y. (2018, March 12). Maintaining Power by Breaking up Society: Eritrea Under Isaias Afwerki. Retrieved from https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/ethics_online/maintaining-power-by-breaking-up-society-eritrea-under-isaias-afwerki
Nechepurenko, I. (2017, December 22). In a Year of Election Upsets, Uzbekistan Delivers the Expected. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/world/asia/uzbekistan-election-president.html
Photo, T., & Campbell, C. (2017, February 24). North Korea: A Family Tree of the Kim Dynasty. Retrieved from http://time.com/4681304/north-korea-kim-family-album/