about the freedom of the press

Recently I saw some film about journalism. All the president's Men is about watergate scandal in which two journalist in the Washington Post strove to trace the dark business behind the election and finally President Nixon was impeached and gone down. Good night, good luck is about McCarthyism in the 50s of the US during which CBS stood out to reveal the unjustness of McCarthyism. These two films are about politics. Another one is about public health. The insider is about a lawsuit against a tobacco company. A TV program producer made great efforts to find witness and produce program to support those injured in the lawsuit. A conscientious chemistry scientist ever working in the accused tobacco company, as an insider of tobacco business, cooperated with the TV program producer to provide effective testimony for the lawsuit in face of great pressure. You can see them by the references below this blog.

Actually I'm more stroke by "The Insider", because this one is pretty much focused on individuals, while another two are mainly about the roles of mass media (newspaper,TV channel) in politics. It is no doubt that mass media are powerful in spreading and influencing public opinions. However, because its intimate relationship with advertisers, independent opinion is very rare in them and some of them even side with a party and oppose another. So, in most cases, mass media stand on behalf of some kind of interest groups rather than real public opinion. On the other hand, the characters in "The Insider" are individuals and emotional struggles in revealing the dark side of a giant business are depicted in details. For anyone in journalism, this kind of emotional or moral struggles are very common. This film is successful in describing the emotional conditions of journalist and regular citizen in the progress of becoming a muckraker.

Actually when I saw them, I can't help thinking about the condition of journalism in China. Although the press got more freedom in recent years compared to the 80s, the censorship in journalism is still strict. The freedom of speech and press is literally in the Constitution, but it never has been enforced. On the contrary, many hidden rules are in effect in journalism and many topics are forbidden. How the constitution is ridiculous! What's more worse is the censorship of the Internet by national security services. Many articles including sensitive words are isolated from Chinese netizens by a powerful national firewall. I think the voices asking for freedom will be more and much louder, so the conditions will improve gradually.

I shall give my respect to any journalist who hold a professional conscience and dare to reveal the inconvenient truth. They disclose the dark side of society and offer real information for the public. To some extent, they act as a watchdog of the society.

Another point I want to say is that, some left guys are still thinking in a cold war way. One of their points is that those asking for more freedom in speech are traitors or lackeys of the west. All they said is about personal attack rather than specific debate. This kind of thinking doesn't make any sense. Joining in a debate and trying to solve the problems are a more reasonable and realistic attitude.

reference:
1. All the president's Men(Chinese title:惊天大阴谋)
2. Good night, good luck(Chinese title:晚安，好运)
3. The insider(Chinese title:局内人)