Do you think a free press is important for citizens to have checks & balances on the Goverment?

[21stCentury]

Actually no press is actually "free", especially those from US and the typical 'West'. They are all privately owned with specific agendas and interest that serve their state/corporation.

 

[aliaselin]

More to talk about NGO. NGO means non-government, so what? They have their own way to make their money and they have their own benefit. For an argument, I do not care It is from NGO or government, but it is for my benefit.

As to the topic, there is no free media, so this voting is ridiculous, and the one who calls for the vote, too.

 

[genmirajborgza786]

yes , absolutely

 

[21stCentury]

In an ideal world having 'free press' would be great, just like communism would be fantastic--on paper. But we don't live in a fantasy world, sadly.

 

[Brahmaputra Mail]

Free Press is necessary. But along with that India needs a press that can act as govt propaganda tool. Russia TV is just pounding hatred against Turks since the downing of Su-24 bomber. India needs to step-up its information warfare by making Door Darshan go global like CCTV and Russia TV. It's also a good way to promote India in global scale.

 

[Khan_patriot]

I support free journalism but absolutely free and unbiased journalism would be utopian, sadly the media of today is just a tool in the hands of the most powerful it is used to justify their narrative, to shape public opinion to foolishly support their actions that may or may not be in the publics interests.
It is used to feed false sense of jingoistic superiority bordering on fascism all cleverly disguised in a veil of political correctness.
The media tells us who to vote for, what to wear, what to buy and ultimately shapes the way we live our lives.

 

[yolo2016]

It is one incident related to freedom of press.

But a single incident is enough to prove that there cannot be total free pass for the press, it need to be regulated.

I cannot prove to you that the government did or did not rig that poll or not. But judging by the torrent of negative comments said journalist received in her FB and else where, I think it is fairly evidential that a vast number of Chinese citizen did not like what she had published, and would very much like her to be disallowed into China.

Your attitude of "because it is government media then it is automatically wrong" is obviously mistaken. Attacking the messenger (the gov't) do not prove that the message is wrong.

My premise clearly acknowledges that we will have a few bad apples existing. Do you not see that those negative comments and feedback is also a way of check and balances on a free press. Albeit we all know how unscientific an online poll is. Regardless, your one off articles and sentiment tracking means nothing honestly- when compared to the proven advantage of having a free press as a whole.

I have noticed in Western countries this need for democracy and free press is essentially brainwashing. It's not bad, like antisemitism, but it blinds people to the realities.

Like Song ZiWen of nationalist China, his economic ideas taken from the States were about as effective as punching yourself to stop a nose bleed, and yet he cannot see it. He continued until he depleted Chang's coffer and made an inflation as bad as post war Germany.

Lesson? China is not the US. Clear to everyone, but put it into practice, nobody sees it.

Judging case by case is very important, but that objectivity is lost almost entirely in the West. Success has its own drawbacks, much like Hitler and Napoleon.

This is hilarious even for a chinese to state , quote " I have noticed in Western countries this need for democracy and free press is essentially brainwashing. It's not bad, like antisemitism, but it blinds people to the realities."

Democracy (free will) and Free press( permission to have a check and balance on the government) leads to brainwashing? i.e. the opposite of it- being told by the government what to do, what to read , what to say, how to behave - frees the mind?

 

[gambit]

This is hilarious even for a chinese to state , quote " I have noticed in Western countries this need for democracy and free press is essentially brainwashing. It's not bad, like antisemitism, but it blinds people to the realities."

Democracy (free will) and Free press( permission to have a check and balance on the government) leads to brainwashing? i.e. the opposite of it- being told by the government what to do, what to read , what to say, how to behave - frees the mind?

His fellow Chinese pressures the Chinese government to be more like US. No one in the US pressures the US government to be more like China. It means our brainwashing reaches their shores.

 

[yolo2016]

I deleted my posts, because you are putting words in my mouth. I never said good, and it wasn't my point. In fact the sentence you quoted speaks to the effectiveness of speech, not good or bad. If you want to argue, don't argue good or bad, I'm not God and neither are you, let's argue effectiveness. Which ironically is also your point.

If you believe free press is really effective, know that in Calgary Canada, a flood happened two years ago. To date, most home owners affected have not been paid any meaningful compensation and is still in the process of dealing with the government. The government is open about it's investigation, but it is inactive just the same. I know this for a fact, unfortunately.

I don't care if I know about the exact details of something, I care if something is done about it. I know way too much about a lot of the deficiencies in Canadian cities, yet the plan to extend a busy road is pushed to 2114. Even my children who are yet to be born may not make it.

The thing is Canada can handle it, it's already developed, don't have that huge of a population, so it's almost irrelevant whether it's effective or not. Not true for all cases, but it's true enough for enough cases.

Take a look at another case, this time India. Dehli lacks the infrastructure to even enforce a odd/even car system. I know what the problem of Dehli is, but nobody is doing a damn thing to fix it. Unlike the developed cities of Canada and US. Dehli cannot handle it. In fact, the Chinese cities have way more reporting on air pollution than India.

Chinese reporting since SARS and the US embassy reporting on pollution has changed considerably. Everyone can see it. Do you really believe an American system can prevent a SARS? Or pollution? I have my doubts. Especially pollution, look at how polluted our free democratic neighbors to the South are.

Now read carefully, I am not saying free press stops progress. What I am saying is that, it's not nearly as effective as you like to make people believe. I support free press, but I don't think it's as essential. I believe it will come when it comes, when the people or the publishing companies are powerful enough, or both. See China has a lot of non state sponsored news sources too.


Your last point doesn't even make sense. America is better than China, free press play a very small part in people choosing to go to America. Why is it so hard for Americans to grasp that on the one hand you know exactly how much more developed than us, and yet, unable to see it as a reason for people wanting to choose America as a place of residence.

This is remarkable list of examples that have nothing to do as examples against a free press. You have a flood, the government is not being proactive. That is nothing to do with free press being ineffective. There are thousands of other instances where a free press has helped. It is called a free press not a guarantor of 100% success.

Reporting on pollution- have you benchmarked it via a scientific study on which press reports more of it? and what is the difference between 80 citations and 120 citations- the point is they are free to report it i.e. Where the difference lies is in the fact that press has a right to cite pollution levels, something the U.S embassy used to cite while chinese government banned for the longest time- till it became so bad that they had to speak up about it

Quote "Do you really believe an American system can prevent a SARS? Or pollution?" . The answer to your question is they are a channel of bringing attention to human factors contribution to worsening of it. Did you know that China kept quiet about SARS and it resulted in an epidemic being allowed to spread faster and without preventive steps in place because china feared an economic hit? Or that a government looks the other way on polluters.

YES! a free press can stop an environmentally high risk activity. Our clean air and water act was borne from such reporting. YES! a free press can contribute to awareness of an epidemic and unshackle medical professionals from reporting it. Chinese medical professionals were forced to be quiet on reporting the SARS epidemic for the longest.

And finally you last point. Chinese high worth earners run off to the U.S because of our free press and democracy. It is a free press that ensures our citizens rights are not trampled , and if they are- it is reported and an investigation is done. It is not guarantor of a100% successful outcome- but it is a sword that hangs above a government's neck, and acts like a check and balance.

 

[Leviza]

What free Media we want to discuss here ? In case of Media in Pakistan ??

1- When US of A president says that they have spend 50 million $s in Pakistan media, do you still consider it free ?
No its not free its brought up media and gov should have monitor these things to make sure that media is also with in checks and balances ..

2- When some senior journalist of these media channels are parting hard in US embassy than, is it free from third country influences ? nope There should be some gov body to give out licenses to these journalist to be active in journalism

3- Alot of major journalist in main stream media are exposed taking bribe or on someone's (read foreign agencies ) pay roles and still they are appearing on media ... Is this free media NOPE


Otherwise any country can buy any one and then can influence common man

 

[yolo2016]

What free Media we want to discuss here ? In case of Media in Pakistan ??

1- When US of A president says that they have spend 50 million $s in Pakistan media, do you still consider it free ?
No its not free its brought up media and gov should have monitor these things to make sure that media is also with in checks and balances ..

2- When some senior journalist of these media channels are parting hard in US embassy than, is it free from third country influences ? nope There should be some gov body to give out licenses to these journalist to be active in journalism

3- Alot of major journalist in main stream media are exposed taking bribe or on someone's (read foreign agencies ) pay roles and still they are appearing on media ... Is this free media NOPE


Otherwise any country can buy any one and then can influence common man

A free press ensures you know that information above. A free press in UK ensures you of your rights as a citizen, to be not be picked up under some terror law and thrown into a gulag without due process .

 

[gambit]

What free Media we want to discuss here ? In case of Media in Pakistan ??

1- When US of A president says that they have spend 50 million $s in Pakistan media, do you still consider it free ?
No its not free its brought up media and gov should have monitor these things to make sure that media is also with in checks and balances ..

2- When some senior journalist of these media channels are parting hard in US embassy than, is it free from third country influences ? nope There should be some gov body to give out licenses to these journalist to be active in journalism

3- Alot of major journalist in main stream media are exposed taking bribe or on someone's (read foreign agencies ) pay roles and still they are appearing on media ... Is this free media NOPE


Otherwise any country can buy any one and then can influence common man

The kind of media that is free of government control. That is what 'free media' or 'free press' really mean.

That does not mean the government cannot have its own media agency. What it really mean is that the people must be allowed to have their own media agencies, no matter how professional and unprofessional those agencies might turn out to be.

Now...Is a free press a necessary component of democracy ? Note I said 'component'. Yes, a free press is a necessary component. But if the people is not prepared to use that component, then just like any human institution, that tool will be corrupted to serve other interests.

 

[21stCentury]

The kind of media that is free of government control. That is what 'free media' or 'free press' really mean.

.

What if the government is controlled by special interest groups, the same special interest groups that also own the 'free media'?

At least with government control they are liable to the public.

Try to stay on topic.

 

[Sliver]

nothing should be completely "free". in that case nut cases would get to run brainwashed propaganda as news. There should be a way to "check and balance" the media as well. Of course there will be biased news - and parts of society have the right to have an agenda and their own vision of a nation/issue.

But the basic stuff - like supporting your news with evidence, being punished when baseless news is published, responsible journalism that follows some ground rules should be the norm.

 

[JSCh]

My premise clearly acknowledges that we will have a few bad apples existing. Do you not see that those negative comments and feedback is also a way of check and balances on a free press. Albeit we all know how unscientific an online poll is. Regardless, your one off articles and sentiment tracking means nothing honestly- when compared to the proven advantage of having a free press as a whole.



This is hilarious even for a chinese to state , quote " I have noticed in Western countries this need for democracy and free press is essentially brainwashing. It's not bad, like antisemitism, but it blinds people to the realities."

Democracy (free will) and Free press( permission to have a check and balance on the government) leads to brainwashing? i.e. the opposite of it- being told by the government what to do, what to read , what to say, how to behave - frees the mind?

But it does demonstrate that Chinese idea of "free press" is different from the west. I am assuming that nothing would been done to Ms Gauthier in western version of "free press", and China had done differently.

And Genesis did express the general feeling that Chinese have.

That "free press" is not some sacred idea that one worship and expect that it would absolutely bring everything that it promised, the way Chinese look at thing is by looking at the result/facts.

In another word, "free press" is not the end, it is a means to an end. The feeling that the west is brainwashed occurs when it seem that the west feels that western version of "free press" is the end, a absolute must have, the only path exist, and is bent on pushing it onto others. And Chinese different way of looking at and doing thing is automatically wrong.

There are obviously advantages to have a relatively "free press", and as others point out, negatives too. China tend to put stability, unity and security of the nation as having higher priority. And those considerations would be balance against "free press" or "freedom of expression".

The truth is, western criticism of China often felt just like excuses, it doesn't really matter what the facts are as long as they can criticize China. China is being targeted with double standard and hypocrisy.