Olivia Perreault Professor Meagher JOR 115 4 March 2014

Test #1 1. Traveling the world as a New York Times reporter seems like an incredible journey, but I have to make sure to keep in mind the consequences. Freedom of the Press seems like such a common term here, but in various countries, this concept is not applicable. First on my trip is Egypt, which is known for their amazing architecture, as well as their harsh nature. The state of emergency began in 1981, which remained a large force until 2012. Censorship was permitted, although this was banned under the constitution. Egypt claimed themselves as partly-free, but shortly after, declined to not free. In 2013, military stuck to old methods of censorship, declaring there would be no tolerance of insults, (Freedom House). Out of a scale of 100, with 100 ranked as the worst, Egypt is voted number 62, and claims do be engaged in a power struggle. Traveling to this country would scare me to a point of no return. One blogger, Maikel Wabil Sanad was imprisoned for three years, simply because he was accused of insulting armed forces. Another blogger, Botheina Kamel, was sent in for questioning when she criticized the army on her Nile TV station. At one point, 16 stations were given licenses, and then the government stopped giving licenses altogether. Journalists could not post anything critical of the armed forces without permission, causing a sense of secrecy amongst the government. If I covered a story here, I would watch absolutely everything I say, knowing any of my words could be criticized. Next on my trip is Greece, whose status currently stands as partly-free. Over the past few years, their charts have decreased dramatically, starting with 2012. Greece claimed to be free, but once the economy became worse, multiple protests began. The constitution and laws included provisions for freedom of speech and the press, with a variety of limits on speech. The strongest limitations were those pertaining to the overthrow of political systems. Public and private media is now largely free from government restrictions, but stations, newspapers, and TV shows that are government owned are known to be strongly pro-government. Anything putting down the government has consequences. Greece is strongly linked to the trouble faced in Egypt, because the government restricts anything that will make them look bad. For example, a Greek journalist, Kostas Vaxevanis, was arrested for publishing in his investigative magazine. He talked about a list of Greek citizens who were transferring funds to Swiss accounts in order to avoid Greek taxes. The astounding thing is that the government was well aware of this happening, but did nothing. Similarly, I would have to walk on eggshells while reporting in Greece as well. They may be partly-free for now, but they could crash down on laws even harder at any second, causing the field of journalism to spiral out of control.

On the other hand, the United Kingdom is very different from both Egypt and Greece. There are no restrictions on who can launch a newspaper and there is no state licensing of the press or journalists. The UK is declared free, just like the United States. Although they are free, their government is not necessarily perfect. Citizens and the press do face a range of legal restrictions. For example, media ownership is regulated and there is a limited number of rights to local government information and meetings. The royal government likes to keep a lot of things secret, as explained by Perry Keller. In one case, a media report of a defamatory statement made at a meeting held in a private house, to which the media were invited, was held to be protected by qualified privilege (Keller). The UK seems like a place to go thats extremely relatable to the United States. Unlike Egypt and Greece, the UK does not have harsh laws, and journalists are not being killed on a daily basis over riots and protests. They are on their way from changing their secrecy to become more open, and even before then, I will feel safe reporting in this country. I dont have to be afraid for my own-well being, and can report without feeling like Ill be chastised.

Works Cited:

"Egypt." Freedom House. N.p., 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. "Greece." Freedom House. N.p., 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2014. Greens ade, !oy. ""ress Freedom # arm o$er Gree% "arty&s 'reatment o( )ourna *sts." '+eguard*an.com. Guard*an Ne,s and Med*a, 0- May 2012. Web. 01 Mar. 2014. .e ey, "erry. "We come to t+e /r*t*s+ 0ounc* ." /r*t*s+ 0ounc* . /r*t*s+ 0ounc* , 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. ""ress !egu at*on1 "r*$y 0ounc* Grants !oya 0+arter." //0 Ne,s. //0, 30 2ct. 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2014.

2. Journalism; its something easily misunderstood. Most people would assume that journalism is all about spreading news, but the field is so much more than that. Journalists are the main source of news, but it has not always been that way. Time and time again, the government has fought back against journalists, punishing them simply for reiterating information to others who are less informed. Throughout the years, its evident that journalists can not be stopped. Honestly, where would this country be without news? As said by Sandy Davidson and Betty Winfield in their article, The Lifeblood of Democracy, Journalism is a necessary conduit for not only spot news about what is happening within our society, but also what citizens think about what is happening (18). News is essential to life, because without it, we wouldnt have the freedoms that we do today. It all started with Benjamin Harris, a simple coffeehouse owner who attempted to publish his own newspaper three hundred years ago. The Massachusetts government punished him for not having a license or government permission. Nonetheless, Harris still printed his first issue of Public Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestic. In this issue, he promised, When there appears any material mistake in anything that is collected, it shall be collected (19). Harris proved to be the first person to argue against the government, showing that although he was just a man, his own words had power in society. From here on out, journalists risked their own lives to spread news, no matter what the government had to say about it. John Peter Zenger, a printer from New York, felt no shame publishing a newspaper like Harris. Taking on the role of Harris, Zenger also criticized the government. After writing an article in the New York Weekly Journal about New Yorks governor and how he was a tyrant, he was found guilty and was acquitted. Although he was unaware at the time, the Zenger case is now known as The earliest and most famous American experience with freedom of the press (20). Zenger opened doors for people like Elisah Lovejoy, a former minister, who started his own reform paper. He focused on local injustices that everyone else was too scared to talk about, like slavery and the burning of black men alive. He wrote about stories that were important, yet were carefully covered up by the government. Lovejoy risked his life in this act, which eventually led to his death by an unimpressed mob. The cycle kept moving forward after his death, causing Ida B. Wells to continue his work. Ida focused mainly on African American rights and discrimination was her main focus in her paper Free Speech. She founded the Anti-Lynching Society, and publicized lynchings for the next 40 years. There is some news that needs a lot of undercover work, and Upton Sinclair rose to the occasion. In his book, The Jungle, he writes about his experiences behind the scenes of a meat-packing industry. Sinclair touches upon subjects that would make readers sick to their stomach, but without his bravery, customers would be completely oblivious to this destruction. Alike Sinclair, Ida Tarbell wrote about John D. Rockefeller and his abuse of the oil industry. Tarbell, Sinclair, and many other authors/journalists known as Muckrakers exposed the corruption that could not be easily seen in every

day life. Each of these Muckrakers take on the role of a journalist as they put their lives in danger to protect someone else from the unknown. Politics are just another factor in this cycle, showing that there is always a back story. Jay Near and his partner criticized the Minneapolis government officials, claiming that they were participating in a scandal alongside gangsters. After publishing an issue in his paper Saturday Press about the officials secret, the paper was immediately shut down. Once debated, the issue arose whether press should be allowed to expose such information. Why shouldnt they be? As Davidson and Winfield say, The press has a duty to criticize public officials for the benefit of democracy (26). Near simply proved that not everything is meant to be a secret. Next, came along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who not only fought against the governments beliefs, but who started an entire movement. The sense of equality rose above all, which started the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Daniel Ellsberg, who got his hands on the governments top secret Pentagon Papers, turned them in to the New York Times. Lastly, Edward Murrow, a pioneer broadcaster, questioned the truth behind the Cold War, and the case of Joseph McCarthy. The press did not further look into McCarthys case, so Murrow took things into his own hands. Throughout all these events over the past few hundreds of years, journalists have betrayed the government and fought for their own voice to be heard in the millions of crowds of people. They have risked their own lives to bring us freedom and to teach people today that it is okay to fight back and get to the bottom of things. Journalists have always and will always be around to provide the population with news that they will be unable to acquire anywhere else. As James Madison said, If the flow of information from journalists stopped, then what would result? A farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both (31). Journalism is the key to a successful and prospering society.

Works Cited

3a$*dson, 4andy, and /etty W*n(*e d. "'+e 5*(eb ood o( a 3emocracy." )ourna *sm6n.d.71 1-831. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.