Are we Really Free?
It's another week, beautiful day, I am alive and blessed yet again. This is my 2nd blog post..YAY!!! How I dearly missed you. So today will be blogging about media freedom and public relations. What a beautiful topic I think, are we really free as we would like to be? Are Public Relations Practioners as free as they would love to be? So today will be exploring the topic, to the best of my abilities. Here goes nothing. Do enjoy!!!Many countries lack Media freedom, because Government has become gatekeepers. South Africa is one of the fortunate countries where we have the freedom to express our views and opinions about any topic of our choice and it is also the role of Public Realtions Practioners to always tell the truth about arising matters within they organizations.
Many Journalist put they life at risks for the freedom of truth. Many of these Journalist become threatened from a day to day basis but that does not stop them from being free from telling the truth. Truth is history. Journalist have found a solution to bullies, they are moving away from press media to digital space, where everything is instant and fast. Media is a powerful tool and platform to engage in day to day challenges we face as a country, individuals or even as a community. Digital space has become a platform for individuals to formulate truth from what they see. A great example of this is the Oscar Trial, the need for truth lead for media to cease an opportunity like never before, the court room being televised to all. What you read, hear and see has the power to shape your thoughts and perceptions and formulate your own truth.
Media Freedom is a platform to discuss uprising issues within our country, having a say and not being crucified for freedom of speech, also being responsible for what you say. James Madison said “The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.” ( http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/media). I hope I was able to shape thoughts and perception of media freedom and public relations in South Africa. Share your thoughts and ideas. Are we really free? food for thought!
Link: http://goo.gl/fPzjY5
Great points made. This is very insightful and gives us something to think about. Are we really as free as we think we are? Who knows. Very interesting indeed
ReplyDeleteThanks Elmyra. Thanks to social media and digital space, we are not suppressed! Free I think so.
ReplyDeleteI must say I agree with your points Amanda. But the question still remains are we that free, because if something is being said about the President, a lot of things are being done to try and stop people from expressing their opinion. So can we really say we have the freedom of speech in South African?
ReplyDeleteAn excellent post Amanda! I found it very interesting! Thank you for sharing this with us!
ReplyDeleteGreat point Nomfundo. I believe we are free because we know what he has been up to, the media has not been silenced. The finding of the public protector went viral in seconds and what we think is shaped but what we hear and we have a clear perception of what kind of man our president is.
ReplyDeleteAre we free? Poses a Good Question. Yes we are but in different spheres. We have Digital of which is instant and fast to reach out to the public, i can say we are free on dat 1; We have televised n Radio broadcast(SABC) of which is recorded manipulated and sometimes not televised because it Government driven , there are things that we are not suppose to find out about, we have Hard Paper Publicised almost close to TV but it reaches Public. Yes it is something to think about. Thumbs Up To Public Relations.
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ReplyDeleteShernese I am glad you find it interesting. Glad I could help.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lulamile. We are absolutely free when it comes to social media, the aim is to free the upcoming generations. I mean our parents believe whatever they read or see, thus making them captive and government still having power and dominion over that area but in the upcoming years I believe Public relations would have taken media to another level and in all spheres, soon government won't have a voice.
ReplyDeleteAs Public Relation Practitioners, i personally think our freedom works around the laws of government and what journalists out there are saying. Journalists basically have the fist say (eg: government scandals etc) and and then society follows in reaction to that, so do we. I dont know about other countries, but in SA I think PRP's have not found their voice and courage to stand up and express themselves. PRP's are most likely to be gunned down for criticizing, voicing their OPINIONS and speaking bad of anything than journalists are.
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