I was somewhat surprised about all the media stories being run last week about "Germany" not allowing Tom Cruise to make his new film.
At first I sort of wondered if they had really stepped out of line that far. I mean it would be almost as stupid as starting to yell at the person you are doing a documentary on. Then I realised that the article just could not point to any specific source - it was all general statements like "German Government" and other such ambiguous people.
Then when someone starts really doing their investigation it turns out it is one not so tolerant politician that voiced her opinion (It would be like asking Le Pen what his opinion is of the foreigners in France and publishing it as the official statement). The media hid that fact and then had stories to sell for another week.
My point is Freedom of Speech includes a certain responsibility. The Free Press can be helpfull if they are responsible.
But nobody even looks at it that way anymore. "That's just the way it is" doesn't make our lives easier to live. As bloggers we have the power to report the truth no matter what the media says. Let's not waste it!
A fellow blogger, Grahame did a really great post on this whole hullabaloo, called Unfair Treatment of Germany in the Press. Actually an honest piece of "journalism". More people should do this.
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1 comment:
Thanks for referencing my article. Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press are vital parts of a free society. But the press has to be responsible and has to make sure they are reporting the truth. A press that is abusing their freedom is asking for it to be taken away. Some oppressive politician can come along and simply point to all the abuses and a population fed up with being fooled could be persuaded to give up that freedom. Then where would we be?
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