Free Essays on A Free Press And A Democratic Public Sphere

A Free Press and Democratic Public Sphere â€Å"Burke said there were three estates in Parliament, but in the reporters’ gallery yonder there sat a fourth estate more important than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact†¦Printing, which comes necessarily out of writing, I say often, is equivalent to democracy; invent writing and democracy is inevitable†¦Whoever can speak, speaking now for the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government, with inalienable weight in law making, in all acts of authority. It matters not what rank he has, what revenuers or garnitures: the requisite thing is that he have a tongue which others will listen to.† Since the invention of the printing press the mass media’s effect on politics has been hard to understate. Political theories have been born and died in the span of time marked by the evolution of what we now call mass communication. In this time liberal democracy has come to the forefront as the basic theory behind the systems of government now employed by most all western nations . Together democracy, mass communication, or mass media, capitalism, and the entrepreneurial spirit, which comes there from, have sparked the most rapid period of innovation and invention in the history of the world and some of the freest, most open, and politicly legitimate societies ever to exist. In theory then, mass media is not only beneficial to a democratic public sphere; it is quite imperative. Still, the world does not exist merely in theory, and theory and reality often differ. Today’s mass media, as it has evolved, contains many contradictions that hinder its ability to provide â €Å"equal access†¦to sources of information and equal opportunities to participate in the debates from which political decisions rightly flow.† Nonetheless, because today’s mass media exists in a free press environment the media is of great benefit to democracy. At the d... Free Essays on A Free Press And A Democratic Public Sphere Free Essays on A Free Press And A Democratic Public Sphere A Free Press and Democratic Public Sphere â€Å"Burke said there were three estates in Parliament, but in the reporters’ gallery yonder there sat a fourth estate more important than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact†¦Printing, which comes necessarily out of writing, I say often, is equivalent to democracy; invent writing and democracy is inevitable†¦Whoever can speak, speaking now for the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government, with inalienable weight in law making, in all acts of authority. It matters not what rank he has, what revenuers or garnitures: the requisite thing is that he have a tongue which others will listen to.† Since the invention of the printing press the mass media’s effect on politics has been hard to understate. Political theories have been born and died in the span of time marked by the evolution of what we now call mass communication. In this time liberal democracy has come to the forefront as the basic theory behind the systems of government now employed by most all western nations . Together democracy, mass communication, or mass media, capitalism, and the entrepreneurial spirit, which comes there from, have sparked the most rapid period of innovation and invention in the history of the world and some of the freest, most open, and politicly legitimate societies ever to exist. In theory then, mass media is not only beneficial to a democratic public sphere; it is quite imperative. Still, the world does not exist merely in theory, and theory and reality often differ. Today’s mass media, as it has evolved, contains many contradictions that hinder its ability to provide â €Å"equal access†¦to sources of information and equal opportunities to participate in the debates from which political decisions rightly flow.† Nonetheless, because today’s mass media exists in a free press environment the media is of great benefit to democracy. At the d...

The Role Of Women In essays

The Role Of Women In essays In the eyes of the masculine society, the dominance of women has never been seen with pleasure. Their egotistical macho egos will not tolerate women prevailing over them. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, was Ken Keseys tool to demonstrate the evils of domineering females. Every one of his feminine characters was given birth with malignant, evil inflicting individualities. Ken Keseys views of women are as spiteful creatures that take pleasure in the anguish of men. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, exposes the malevolent powers of women, and the detrimental effects of what these powers can do when they are not restricted. In the masculine perspectives of Ken Kesey, the female characters are downsized to just two roles in the story. Each of which is created to bring down the self-worth of men, or to use sexuality to inflict havoc in the lives of which they meet. Ken Kesey has women who cause men to undergo a metaphoric castration. The characters of Nurse Ratched, Billys mother, and the Ch iefs mother are focused on the removal of the masculinity of the male characters in the story that they are involved with. Ken Kesey, writes about the destructive powers that women exert over men, inflicting the reader with the ideals of the masculine form of thought. Nurse Ratched is the perfect woman that Ken Kesey uses to demonstrate that the matriarchy of women is wicked. To describe the character of the nurse, Ken Kesey uses a male figure, which is the Chief. This demonstrates the how unfairly even from the start women are being described by the biased eyes of a male. Ratched, her name suggests her role to tighten the stronghold that she has on the men in her ward. Even the beauty of a womans smile is twisted and turned by Ken Kesey. The more infuriated she becomes, the more machinelike and, therefore, funny she becomes, ...she really lets herself go and her painted smile twists, stretches to...

Protection of Journalistic Sources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Protection of Journalistic Sources - Essay Example There is multitude of such cases in which the freedom of media has had been violated. Keeping in view such instances, it may easily be concluded that the prevailing laws have some flaws which have to be rectified in order to make the media more secure and free to perform its real ‘watchdog’ role and deliver the information to the public without any legal hindrances. There should be clarity in the laws which may not lead judges or the defence lawyers to interpret these laws wrongly. As, in the eye of law, both the accused and the common man have equal rights, so their rights may not clash with each other. If the fair trial is the fundamental right of the accused, it is also a right of the common man to know the factual position if there is public interest involved in the case. And it is, also the ethical obligation of the journalists to safeguard their sources so they may obtain information. Hence there is a need to make laws keeping in view these aspects.

Coporate Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Coporate Governance - Essay Example Definition of corporate social responsibility also includes the broader concept of economic, environmental, and social sustainability. CSR is a fundamental part of an integrated set of principles applied to the management of business. A business model should integrate economic performance with environmental and social values. This is a good definition of corporate social responsibility. The Boeing Company is the world's leading aerospace company, with its heritage mirroring the history of flight. It is the largest manufacturer of satellites, commercial jetliners, and military aircraft. The company is also a global market leader in missile defense, human space flight, and launch services. in the cabins and cockpits of many jets manufactured. Use of an overly harsh cleaning fluid on fuel tanks caused the inner coating of the tanks to flake off. Fuel tank repairs were made after the tanks had been Boeing has managed to stifle environmental reforms, become the state's second-worst polluter in a region renowned for its environmental awareness, and avoid serious scrutiny from the media, the public and even environmentalists. Despite Boeing's claims of a proactive environmental evolution, government regulators agree that Boeing rarely makes any major environmentally minded reforms without being so ordered. Boeing has taken credit, for example, for phasing out wasteful spray-paint guns and the use of CFCs in its part-cleaning vapor-degreasers. Boeing withholds from the public details of its plans to reduce toxic waste emissions, keeping watchdogs in the dark about areas where the company could or should be cutting down on pollution. State officials are allowed to see the plans, but they can't copy them. Perhaps most importantly, Boeing uses its enormous tentacles reaching deep into the state's political, business, social, even religious institutions to blunt criticism.Boeing's Aub urn plant discharged nearly 1,400 pounds of chromium - a carcinogenic heavy metal that can kill marine wildlife - into one of Metro's sanitary sewage systems. Boeing uses chromium to help make parts corrosion-resistant. Unbeknownst to Metro, the chromium went to the agency's sewage treatment plant in Renton, where most of it found its way into truckloads of bio solids - treated solid waste primarily used to fertilize forest and farm lands. Much of it winds up in the Olympic National Forest. In 2003 Boeing Co. chairman and chief executive Phil Condit resigned unexpectedly only days after the huge aerospace manufacturer fired two other Boeing officials for an alleged ethics breach. Condit had been with Boeing since 1965, when he joined the company as an aerodynamics engineer. He has been chief executive since 1996 and chairman since 1997; the company's seventh chairman since it was founded in 1916.Boeing has been roiled for months by ethical controversies

Summary of Professional Ethics Module Essay Example for Free

Summary of Professional Ethics Module Essay Ethics is a branch of philosophy that studies the difference between right and wrong. As professional accountants, you will have many opportunities to choose between right and wrong. And as you have seen in the business press, making the wrong choice can lead to serious consequences including corporate failure, loss of reputation, fines, and even jail sentences. The objective of this unit is to introduce you to different branches of ethics, in order to help you understand that people approach the topic with different points of view. You will learn about different ways of thinking through an ethical question. This will help you identify the way that you make decisions so that you can recognise your own personal ethics in any professional ethical problem that you may be faced with. In this way, you can mitigate any detrimental impact of your own personal ethics, with a view to a more objective approach. Perspectives on ethics In very broad terms, there are three ways of looking at ethics that have developed over time: rules conformance, good intentions, and competence. One way of thinking about ethics is in terms of conformity to rules. From this perspective, ethics is understood as a list of things to do and to not do. Sometimes the list gets very long and complicated and needs to be interpreted by a whole institution of people. The ethical person, from this perspective, is the one who conforms to the rules. A second way of thinking about ethics is in terms of good intentions. From this perspective, a behaviour is considered ethical if it is based on good intentions. Good behaviour then follows from good thinking. The third perspective thinks of ethics in terms of competence. From this perspective, the ethical person is one who can make decisions based on principles and then act on them. This perspective is thought of as looking at competence, because ethics is thought of in terms of an ability rather than an attitude our duty to others One way to think about ethics is to acknowledge that there are things that someone just does not do, as part of a duty to others. A limitation of this principle is that you have to decide what those things are that someone should not do. At least one philosopher (Immanuel Kant) has defined those duties by saying ‘act according to principles that everyone could follow. ’ For example, if you disobey traffic lights, you should consider what would happen if everyone did so. The point is that we should recognise everyone as equals, and not assume that the rules are any different for ourselves than they are for other people. As an accounting example, a professional accountant would not deliberately issue false or inaccurate financial statements. If everyone did so, no statements could be trusted and as a consequence not only would the profession be brought into disrepute, but all financial statements would have no value to their users. Ultimately the need for accountants and for financial reports would be called into question. Consequences Another way of thinking about ethics is based on thinking about the consequences to different people. Briefly, consequentialism encourages you to make decisions based on the consequences — both positive and negative — for those involved. This category of thinking is the branch of ethics known as utilitarianism. This states that an action is right if it leads to the most good outcomes and the least bad outcomes for the greatest number of people. One limitation of thinking about ethics in terms of consequences is that you have to agree on what sorts of consequences matter: for example, should you be trying to promote pleasure and avoid causing pain, or should you instead focus on promoting people’s actual well-being, regardless of whether doing so makes them happy? A modern application of this point of view is the cost-benefit analysis, which involves assigning monetary values to the costs and benefits of an action and seeing how they add up. This practice is often used in evaluating new projects. As an accounting example, an accountant thinking in terms of consequences would prepare ‘true and fair’ financial statements because doing so would bring the most benefit to the greatest number of people. In other words, stakeholders inside and outside the organisation would be able to make more informed decisions as a result. Virtue theory  In virtue theory, the emphasis is on deciding what sort of person one should try to be, and to define the virtues such a person would embody. You decide what makes a good person, instead of what makes a good action, and act accordingly. One limitation of this way of thinking is that what constitutes a virtue must be agreed upon, and it can vary by culture and over time. For example, the qualities of good financial reports were once considered to be completeness, historical accuracy, reliability and strict adherence to the legal form in disclosing business transactions. More recently, the qualities of good financial reports have come to be relevance for decision-making, reference to a wider conceptual framework, and presenting the economic substance of business transactions. As an accounting example of the use of virtue theory, in deciding whether to agree to a client’s request to use a questionable method for valuing inventory, an accountant would ask, ‘What would a conscientious accountant do in such a situation? What would one of my respected mentors do? ’ Social contract theory  The social contract theory of ethics advises you to think about ethics as embodying a set of rules agreed upon by reasonable people to bring order to social living. So when making an ethical decision you ask yourself, ‘What rule would reasonable, unbiased people agree to? ’ You then follow such rules, regardless of whether they benefit you in particular situations. One criticism of this theory points out that the agreement referred to by social contract theory is entirely imaginary. Why consider yourself bound by an agreement that never happened? An accounting example of social contract thinking might be seen in a situation where an accountant has to decide between loyalty to a client and candid assessment of financial statements. Both of those options involve important social values. Thinking in social contract terms, the accountant might ask, ‘What sort of rule for balancing these values would unbiased people agree to? ’ Confucian ethics Confucian ethics seeks to provide harmonious relationships within society, the family, and the individual. Looking within yourself and learning from experienced people are seen as the main roads to wisdom and self-harmony. The emphasis on experience leads to respect and reverence for the past, the aged, and for one’s ancestors. One of the criticisms of this model is that in a society where relationships are considered more important than the laws themselves, corruption and nepotism may be tolerated. As an accounting example, in deciding whether to agree to a client’s request to use a questionable method for valuing inventory, an accountant thinking in Confucian terms might consider agreeing to it because doing so would cause harmony with the client. Rules of thumb In addition to scholarly branches of philosophy, some other ways of looking at right and wrong have developed. The golden rule The classic golden rule is to ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you. ’ In other words, ‘I will not cheat that person because I do not want them to cheat me. ’ The golden rule is a simple and useful tool, but it does have some limitations. We don’t really know how babies or animals want to be treated, for example, so the golden rule can’t tell us much about how to treat them. Also, the whole rule is based on your own feelings of how you yourself would want to be treated. But your own needs and preferences might not be typical. For example, the fact that you personally do not value privacy does not mean that you don’t owe others an obligation to respect their privacy. As an accounting example, this rule of thumb could be applied to mean that you disclose all information that may be relevant in financial reports because, if you were the reader of those financial statements, you would expect to receive all the information, and disregard any that is not relevant to you. Mirror Test Another rule of thumb is the mirror test. This is a quick way to evaluate a decision that you are about to make, and reinforces the notion that you are responsible for your own actions. Imagine you’re looking in a mirror and ask yourself: Is it legal? If it is not legal, dont do it. What will others think? Others meaning a friend, a parent, a spouse, a child, a manager, the media, or someone else whose opinion is particularly important to you. As an accounting example, in deciding whether to agree to a client’s request to use a questionable method for valuing inventory, an accountant thinking in terms of this rule of thumb would consider how a story about this action would look on the front page of the local newspaper. Justice and care based approach What this quiz actually does is help you identify whether you lean towards a justice and rule-based approach or whether you lean towards a care-based approach. The justice and rules-based approach says that the rules should be applied equally to everyone and that justice and fairness are most important. Some researchers have suggested that this is a more masculine approach to the world. The care-based approach says that care, rather than justice, is most important and that we should act responsibly to people in need. Some researchers have suggested that this is a more feminine approach to the world. You can see why this research is controversial, and why you may disagree with the results. However it is interesting to consider whether gender could influence ethical positions. It may also help you when discussing issues with colleagues from other countries. Generally, in North American and European groups, men have been found to have, on average, higher ‘justice’ scores and women have been found to have, on average, higher ‘care’ scores. The significance of these statistical findings is a topic of ongoing debate among scholars. It is important to know how you approach an ethical question, and to recognise that other people may approach it a different way, irrespective of gender.

Comparing Ambiguity in The Turn of the Screw and The Innocents Essay

Ambiguity in The Turn of the Screw and The Innocents    How successfully does the black-and-white film version of The Turn of the Screw, The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961), render the ambiguity of James' original text?   Ambiguity, the art of deliberately creating something that can have more than one meaning, lends itself to the written word without difficulty. A written story can involve ambiguity in the characters, plot, narrative - every factor in the story can have to it a sense of uncertainty. However, uncertainty concerning ambiguity is subtly different from uncertainty involving vagueness; the former is a deliberate ploy by the writer to leave interpretation open to the reader's own imagination, whereas the latter comes about due to a lack of detail delivered on the part of the writer, probably due to lack of talent or attention.    With The Turn of the Screw, Henry James crafted an immensely complex and highly ambiguous book - there is nothing vague here; when Jack Clayton decided to make it into a film, he faced an upward struggle. Adapting a book for a film is always beset with difficulties - the written word has the ability to be far more subtle than the projected frame - but capturing the ambiguity of The Turn of the Screw would be immensely difficult. Words do not have to be precise in their meaning but a picture on a cinema screen is just a picture - there is little subtlety or uncertainty. A director has to employ imaginative techniques to make a viewer doubt what he is so evidently seeing. This was especially true in 1961, when The Innocents was produced, a time before sophisticated visual effects came into use.    Almost all of The Turn of the Screw is open to alternate interpretation ... ...e. As with many book-to-žlm adaptions, a desire to change the ending is the žlm's undoing.    In some respects the žlm captures the ambiguity of the original text extremely well - the existence of the ghosts and supporting characters, the involvement of the children - but the more subtle ambiguous parts of the book are lost in the žlm, which is too specižc in places, particularly the ending.    One point that should be taken into consideration is that this essay was written based upon a version of The Innocents that had been cropped to žt a television screen ratio, losing the original widescreen footage. Therefore it was impossible to fully appreciate the director's true vision; consequently, some claims (such as Grose rarely being in the same shot as the governess) may only stand when a third of the picture has been lost.

Amish Clash of Cultures Essay

The Amish in America – Clash of cultures Amish look like they stepped out of the rural 19th Century. Some 200,000 Amish people live in above 20 US states and in the Canadian region of Ontario and also in different parts of the world like Australia. The Amish are the most traditional and religious Old Order groups, people ride horses and buggies rather than cars and have no telephones or electricity in their homes. Amish believe that the community is at the heart of their life and faith, and that the way to salvation is to live as a loving community apart from the world. Witness is a 1985 American thriller film directed by Peter Weir and starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. The screenplay by William Kelley, Pamela Wallace, and Earl W. Wallace focuses on a detective protecting a young Amish boy who becomes the target of a ruthless killer after he witnesses a murder in Philadelphia. The film is mainly about clashing of two ideologies. These ideologies are those of the Amish, and of the modern English as the Amish ideals are in direct contrast to the American consumerist ideas. The two worlds come together when Book drives Rachel to her father in Eli’s house. There are many scenes that highlight the clash of cultures starting with the first scene in which Samuel and Rachel are in their stock black Amish clothes, at the train station. They stand out since they aren’t wearing bright clothing like everyone else. Costume is an important film technique, as it shows the contrast between Amish and the English. The costume is also clear in the scene in where Book is wearing Amish clothes, which are Rachel’s dead husbands clothes, and Book says, â€Å"How do I look? † and Rachel responds by saying â€Å"You look plain†. This is seen as a compliment, and her accepting him, also him accepting the way of the Amish. A key scene where book gives back the gun to Rachel after taking it from her shows the clash of the cultures and book trying to fit in with the Amish. This scene is important since book is trying to accept the Amish culture. It is further shown in the diner scene, where Samuel and Rachel are wearing their plain clothes, and doing grace in the city. Sam and Rachel stare at book as he eats his food without saying grace furthermore he is the man so he should say it. Book is not used to these morals so this shows the culture clash between them. The scene ends by Rachel saying grace then eating their food. Another key scene is the scene in which Eli, Rachel, Samuel and also Book are sitting on the dinner table in Amish land, Book picks up his cup of coffee takes a sip and says â€Å"honey that’s great coffee† they all gaze at him and he then says â€Å"it’s a joke.. on television†. He realizes that they don’t watch TV and there you can see the culture clash. The scenes where the car is in the farm shows the culture clash between the English and the Amish since they don’t use cars or any technology. Also the part when Rachel is dancing with Book in the barn since she is not allowed to dance with strangers or use the technology. A major scene is the tourist scene in this Book witness’s one of the Amish people getting picked on by the tourists in which he gets ice-cream put all over his face. Eli who is sitting beside Book in a different buggy then the other Amish says â€Å"this is not our way† Book replies â€Å"but it is my way†. Book gets out and beats up the tourist. This scene demonstrates the clash of cultures. The biggest issue that highlights the clash of cultures is the relationship between Rachel Lapp and John Book. They are very different people. Rachel refuses to accept the violence that now surrounds her because of the murder and Book, and she blames Book, saying â€Å"I just don’t like my son spending all this time with a man who carries a gun and goes around whacking people†. Their relationship develops through the movie, and she is torn between her feelings for Book, who is dangerous, and different to what she is used to, and her responsibility to the Amish rules, her family and the church.