“When the public’s right to know is threatened, and when the rights of free speech and free press at risk, all of the other liberties we hold dear are endangered.” quoted Christopher Dodd. For many, many years, freedom of the press has been a notably controversial topic to be discussed. Some believe that the public has a right to know, while others waver that journalists should be limited on what they can write about. The real question is, should journalists be allowed the right of freedom of the press or should their writing be able to be censored if the topic is viewed as unacceptable? Although governments might have national security concerns or politicians might prefer to not listen to dissenting viewpoints, the assault on the freedom of …show more content…
For example, in India there was an era known as the “Emergency” in the 1970’s. Freedom of the Press is a right that is guaranteed to the public in India’s constitution, but during this era Prime Minister Indira was censoring and imprisoning journalists that wrote unfavorable articles about him and the government. The abuse of Freedom of the Press is still under attack to this day in India. Loyalists to the country’s Hindu Prime Minister have verbally attacked journalists into taking down articles that expose the country’s true faults. Also, some of these loyalists file criminal complaints that can result in jail time for journalists in India (Gowen). Governments all over the world are worried about censoring what is written about by journalists, but they are only concerned about how the government looks in the public’s eyes. Conversely, some governments might have some strong arguments against freedom of the press, they are still hiding information from the …show more content…
“According to Freedom House, only 13% of the world's population enjoys a free press and media freedom is becoming weaker in modern, pluralist democracies, such as Canada and New Zealand,” (Serrano) Taking away the right of freedom to write about what a person feels should be discussed, denies our society the access to solutions that could benefit our communities. When a person’s creativity is kept inside a box, our world has no room to grow as a nation. By telling journalists what they can and cannot write about, it isn’t allowing them to share information they feel is valuable. If people aren’t allowed to share certain bits of information, it is only going to hurt our world in the end. For example, if the people who found cures for cancer weren’t allowed to speak up, our nation would be dying off due to cancer. When creativity in a journalists writing is taken away, it isn’t allowing the journalist freedom of expression. These topic are only the tip of iceberg when it comes to the debate of freedom of the press, but gave you a little insight on what is truly happening in our society to writers. (Matsheza) The attack governments put on the freedom of the press should be ended because it robs the public of information they should have access to , freedom of the press is in the U.S. Constitution, and it inhibits creativity in many diverse aspects. By taking on the power of helping end the issue against