“Whoever controls the media controls the power.” (AJ+ Fake News, ‘What are journalists to do about it?’)
Propaganda gets shoved down our throats every time we turn on the news, or look at our social media feeds. Our perspective of the world is constantly being manipulated by politicians and journalists, and we are forced to conform to mainstream ideologies.
So, to what extent does it really matter who owns and controls the media?
Arguably, the outcome will always be the same. Regardless of who owns the media, there will ALWAYS be another controversial issue, another conspiracy, and another power-hungry leader. The question of ‘who’ only becomes extremely worrisome when there is no constraint on their power or authority. Many of you will probably refer to Trump as an example of this, but in reality he is a genius when it comes to communicating to the public through Twitter. However, his repression of media publications which he claims are just ‘fake news’, and the way he shames journalism, is somewhat comical in comparison to the tyrannical behaviour exerted by leaders who control the use of media in other nations.
China implements some of the strictest media regulations in the world. Their freedom to publish documents is so limited, that it becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, for us Western societies to access their laws, news reports, and political information.
As of February 2017, thirty-eight journalists were imprisoned in China, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (a US investigative body). Back in 2009, journalist Tan Zuoren was sentenced to five years imprisonment for drawing attention to government corruption and poor construction of school buildings that collapsed and killed thousands of children during the 2008 earthquake in the Sichuan province. Furthermore, social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all completely blocked because they are deemed ‘potentially dangerous’ to the government.
Article 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of China explicitly states; “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession, and of demonstration.” But a journalist better not report an any issue that could ignite social unrest, including corruption, health scandals, the economy, or certain religious groups, because the government will enforce serious consequences. To be completely safe, just don’t report on anything at all. This is hypocrisy at it’s finest.
I guess the point I am trying to raise is that we are highly privileged to have such a great extent of freedom in our nation. Only very rarely do we hear of Australian journalist’s being arrested because their activism went a little bit ‘too far’.
In a totalitarian regime, the issues revolving around ‘Who controls the media’ are significantly worse. Unfortunately none of us can predict the future, and we may see Trump as a dictator soon enough.
(I got my information regarding China’s censorship here; <http://www.cfr.org/china/media-censorship-china/p11515> )
Waking up to the World 
Hey Josie, I completely agree we are so lucky in Australia to have freedom in speech in the media, but yes, only to that extend! As what we learnt that so much of our media is owned by a small amount of powerful people with their own political agendas. And yes, how hard it might be to admit for most of the world (including me), that trump is a communication genius in a scary way. Really enjoyed this read and it got me thinking of how crazy it would be in places like China!
LikeLike