Stephanie Pompei Professor Meagher Journalism 115 Take Home Exam #1 Press Freedom in the United States Sandy

Davidson and Betty Winfield said it themselves, Journalisms story is marked by a series of turning points, each of them opening the door to freedom a little wider for all Americans. [1] One man, who was on a daring path to seek the truth and to let the public in on information that they had a right to know, was Benjamin Harris. [1] Without having a license, he created and published, Public Occurances, Both Foreign and Domestick with hopes of presenting valuable stories to the people, but four days later he was presented with a restraining order by the vulnerable government. This issue forced John Peter Zenger to seek help. [1] Andrew Hamilton, lawyer for John Peter Zenger in 1735, helped reach a point of freedom of the press when he argued that citizens were secretly seeking help when the administration wasnt treating them respectively. It would simply cause a chain reaction of complainers if the problem wasnt addressed. [1] After years have passed, in 1791 a Bill of Rights was improved and appreciated. [1] It stated there should not be any law that prevents freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of petition, and last but not least, freedom to gather together in assembly. It meant that the rights were guaranteed and the people didnt have to worry any further if they didnt have a license. France turned America into a country where journalism was once again very limited and restricted in many ways. Luckily, when Adams was out of the presidency, Thomas Jefferson brought the freedom back. Alien and Sedition Acts were enforced and the citizenship rules was increased, so that government could fine or imprisoned anyone who defamed the government. [1] The people of our country persisted and the day after Jefferson became president, those laws were banished and people were taken out of prison. Not only were citizens allowed to express their opinions, but now they could express even hateful opinions. Unfortunately, for Elijah Lovejoy, his efforts to publish his opinionated articles never stopped, but his efforts became advocacy of the right to express even unpopular opinions and survive. [1] This fight became a phenomenon with the help of Ida B. Wells who spent forty years publishing and advocating about the discrimination against African Americans to stop. [1] Her articles made the country realize that we can inform the people of what is going on and also help create change in a better way for everyone. The Muckrakers were a group of influential, investigative journalists who exposed many wrong doings pertaining to the meat packing industry, child labor, patent-medicine business, and corruption in cities. That was helpful in a way because new laws were created to prevent those issues from happening again through heavy investigating and reporting.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes figured out the law that criminalized the ones who spoke negatively about the war, was not effective. He said it was good for soldiers to be open to free trade in ideas, [1] which then led to protection for comments about the war. Much chaos due to World War I, the stock market crash, and the gangster violence, influenced the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to encourage the press to be courageous and vigilant, to the point where it is almost completely uncensored, but the press must make an effort to speak the truth. [1] America had never known about the secret study of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers. It was unexpectedly appeared in the New York Times one day and created a lot of controversy, but that is why today we are truthfully open during wartimes. WORKS CITED [1] Journalism, The Lifeblood of Democracy. Davidson and Winfield, What Good Is Journalism, University of Missouri Press, 1997.

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Press Freedom Outside the United States How could anyone give up an offer to fly to Brazil, Egypt and Australia? Of course, the first word out of my mouth when my editor approached me was, yes. First thing tomorrow morning, Ill be on my way down to South America. Press freedom is different in every country, but to Brazil, press freedom means that the citizens are partly free to express what they would like. They believe in strong constitutional guarantees of freedom. [1] I went to the prison in Brazil to visit an old friend that was sentenced to prison for publishing information that was about a confidential trial. His sentence is up to four years because of this Gag Law. Brazil also has a Public Information Access Law where it loosens up restrictions against journalists. That basically states that the public has access to different government documents. Another bill that they have is the bill for journalists to have an advanced degree which puts a limit on their work. [1] Being here makes me feel confused. Their laws are contradicting and it puts my journalistic efforts on edge because at one point in time I could feel that my work is adequate for the rules here, but then after analyzing the work, I feel a bit protective for my own sake of freedom. I was far warned about flying to Egypt this week but with no explanation. I guess Ill find out for myself, but that wont be long. In fact, it took about three hours to realize that this government might not even know what the word freedom means because these citizens have none. How can I trust anyone here who is only speaking good things about the government just so they wont get punished for it? I wonder how these citizens are being informed on the important issues in this country, if they are being informed at all. Their

laws state that they have freedom of expression and opinion, within the law. There laws go a little like this. First, we have here an Emergency Law, which really is an emergency because it gives officials the right to keep hold of people without paying any consequences for it. I had to ask a woman who was shaking with fear when she told me that a man named Maikel Sanad has ten years in prison for posting on his blog the doubts he had about the army. [2] Now that Im scared out of my wits, I can say that Egypt has no tolerance and have been putting more effort into prosecuting reporters and commentators. [3] Finding it necessary to leave Egypt, I hop on the first flight out to Australia in hopes of a better state of mind. Whenever I first heard the words of a young woman say, it is in the public interest for the press to make available to the people a wide diversity of views and opinions, I knew I was in a safe place. [5] My body relaxed for the first time in days. Australians think it is beneficial to hear the feedback of others because that is how they can make choices. Openness is important to the values and priorities of journalists. The only law they have is the Telecommunications Act which is when the only block sites contain sexual abuse or child pornography. [4] The government doesnt see the point in laws unless they truly benefit the people as a whole. I felt like I could comfortably talk to people about debatable issues without feeling guilty for it. This feels even better than home. WORKS CITED [1] Brazil." Freedom House. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. <http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2012/brazil#.UxPYnk2x7Dc>. [2] "Egypt." Freedom House. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. <http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedompress/2012/egypt#.Uw1SL02x7Dc>. [3] "Egypt." Reporters Without Borders. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. <http://en.rsf.org/report-egypt,149.html>. "Australia - Reporters Without Borders." Australia - Reporters Without Borders. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. <http://en.rsf.org/australia-australia-12-03-2012%2C42080.html>. "A Charter for a Free Press in Australia." Charter of Press Freedom. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. <http://www.presscouncil.org.au/charter-of-press-freedom/>.

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