Free Media

Knowing the truth is empowering.

Having a free-media with differing viewpoints is very important. When the media doesn’t offer differing perspectives of the same story or provide neutral reports then there is a chance for un-checked spin to occur.

This spinning of news stories can have powerful effects:

People can be moved towards war;
People can be ingrained with a sense of fear;
Conflicts can be fueled;
Racist and discriminating attitudes can be strengthened;
Opinions can be shaped;
Norms of behaviors can be established or altered;
Values can be altered.

So, in a sense, a free media can support and strengthen a democracy. A free media strengthens a democracy by:

Providing voter education about the dates and times of elections;
Providing unbiased information about different political parties and their candidates plus the platforms and policies they use;
Monitoring the election process;
Giving people the results of elections.

A free media can also work to protect the interests of citizens in other ways:

they can expose corporations who are unlawful;
they can open people up to diverse viewpoints so that they can engage in healthy debate over controversial topics and then make informed decisions;
they can help shape and reinforce positive attitudes, values, and behaviors.

A recent trend has been towards keeping a blog journal online or “blogging” as it is commonly called.

Blogs are emerging as new sources of information that mirror the press and is sometimes viewed as better journalism because they are more diverse and unbiased because they are generated at the grassroots level by everyday people who are concerned about news stories.

Therefore, watching blogs for independent news stories is an interesting way to compare and contrast the way the mainstream press reports on stories.

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