The Role of a Journalist

Someone who is abusing the power that is given to him or her defines corruption, however, the word in its self is more than a simple idea; it is an intricate network. Since people’s views about ethical and moral behavior affect the way corruption is examined, the word has a slightly different meaning to each person. Additionally, misconduct across various societies is viewed differently due to social and cultural borders. The criminal justice system has had many instances where corruption had affected the outcome of a case and has inserted itself into the legal process.

In the address, Jefferson has grievances about the press and speaks on length about it. The press’s difference of opinions about Jefferson makes him irritated, yet he understand their

There are few nation-states that one could point to as being truly “corruption-free” (Denmark hosts the most corruption-free gov’t according to Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index). However, this is a trait that holds back the growth of the whole of society, weakening the disadvantaged and emboldening the powerful. As Transparency International goes on to state:

The Founding Fathers wrote free speech into the First Amendment because they wanted people to be able to speak of serious matters and of the news, which is critical in a democracy. George Washington said, “If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter.” (Newburgh). Free speech was not meant for any opinion or thought that people have, because most thoughts are not important enough to be heard. Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to James Currie and Edward Carrington and said, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost… Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” (Society). The right to free speech was meant primarily for journalists and the press, again restating the fact that not all opinions are meant to be heard.

Transparency International, a think-tank based in Berlin, Germany, “Ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be. [They create] a composite index, drawing on corruption-related data from expert and business surveys carried out by a variety of independent and reputable institutions.” On a scale of one to one hundred, one being the most corrupt and 100 being very clean, Haiti received a score of 17/100, making it the 158th most corrupt country out of the 168 surveyed by Transparency International. As one of the most corrupt countries in the world, it will be difficult for Haiti to attract foreign investment, curb political violence, and create sustainable institutions without implementing stringent anti-corruption measures. Likely, any anti-corruption initiatives will have to be implemented by an outside body with governing authority such as MINUSTAH to be

Right to press: "Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it." Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, 1786. (Coates, 1995-99).

According to an annual survey done by Berlin-Based organization Transparency International, the world’s least corrupt nations in 2013 were Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand. The United States on the other hand landed in 19th place. (Infoplease.com)It’s not surprising to see the United States, land of opportunity, has dropped in ranking. Even every time when we watch the news or political channel, more and more scandals of corrupt politicians are revealed. Based off the citizens for responsibility and ethics in Washington or CREW, a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated in holding public officials accountable for their actions, about seventeen members of the past congress member were listed for most corrupt. The political scandals we

The First Amendment of the U.S Constitution expresses that “Congress should make no law… abbreviating the right to speak freely, or of the press.” Though, the nation’s founders plainly felt that it was imperative to secure the freedom of press. The press plays an exceptionally positive and helpful part in a majority rule government. It keeps the general population educated of the national and universal news and happenings. It conveys to the notification of individuals the projects, arrangements and exercises of the administration. Essentially, it keeps the Government aware of present circumstances of the general population's issues, troubles, trusts and yearnings. Along these lines the press assumes a double part. It serves as a scaffold between the

I have several writings of Jefferson that illustrate his sentiments on the importance and necessity of the “Free Press” for democracy and his warning to keep the powers of the government and the Constitution. Charles Yancey in 1816, “where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe,” Elbridge Gerry in 1799, “I am for freedom of religion, & against all maneuvres to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another: for freedom of the press, & against all violations of the constitution to silence by force & not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their agents.” James Currie, 1796, “It is however an evil for which there is no remedy. Our liberty depends on the freedom

It would be convenient to start this research paper by stating that corruption is a challenge mainly for businesses in developing countries and that it is unrelated to the current affliction of the economy in the United States. It would also be convenient to claim corruption has declined in America as a result of awareness raising campaigns and the numerous anti-corruption laws. But none of those aforementioned statements would be true. Corruption is not the exception, but rather the rule in today’s business practices. In 2004, Daniel Kaufmann, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution and former director at the World Bank, calculated an index of "legally corrupt" manifestations which is defined as the extent of undue influence

The duty of journalists is to tell the truth. Journalism means you go back to the actual facts, you look at the documents, you discover what the record is, and you report it that way. — Chomsky 2008

The media and the public have had a relationship that has existed for centuries. Through the media, people become aware of events and issues occurring around them. As a result, they make educated decisions. Therefore, the media serve as witnesses of the events happening within our societies and then report them to us. That said, could journalism have a significant political impact in our societies? It is through the media that governments and their citizens communicate. For instance, people communicate by protesting and voting, governments respond by amending the issues affecting the public. It is also through the media that potential political leaders gain recognition. Therefore, the answer is yes, because, journalism causes the spread

In a contemporary society, the role of journalism is a varied one that covers many different aspects of people’s lives. As more and more outlets spring up around the world, many more stories are able to be covered by different outlets, and this means that journalism takes on a more and more important role in a contemporary society. Much of our lives centre on political and social happenings, and journalistic outlets are the public’s way of finding all the information on these event. Journalism also provides us with a way of finding out which of these stories are important and deserve our attention, and which stories can be ignored. The important role of journalism can be well observed in the recent coverage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in both New Zealand and around the world. This is a ground breaking economic deal, and holds a great deal of importance for the 800 million citizens of the countries involved, as well as the rest of the world. With worldwide coverage of this deal, it is inevitable that different types of reporting occurs, and that different outlets will provide different accounts. With so many different journalism outlets around the world and locally, many have to have a way of standing out from the crowd. This means that some extremely different coverage of very similar stories can occur. However it can also simply be down to different ownership, differing political views, and different socio-economic environments. Two outlets with

The belief that journalism is in decline has triggered major alarms, because society needs an informational environment that is easily available to all citizens such as newspapers. There is a large body of journalist that suggests that if television has taken over from the press as our main source of news this may limit our capacity to learn about public affairs; newspapers are believed to be far more effective than television at conveying detailed information necessary to understand complex and detailed issues. There is also widespread concern that if journalism fails as a profession it will not be able to reach large sections of the community, particularly younger or less educated readers. This may reinforce a growing gap among citizens between the information that they receive.

Corruption is a complex political, social, and economic anomaly that negatively affects developing and developed countries. It weakens democratic institutions, holds economic development, widening the rich-poor gap and certainly leads to governmental instability. The World Bank definition of corruption states that “…the abuse of public office for private gain”.