Debate research paper

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Tanner Meade
Dr. Harold Blanco
FYS 100
29 January 2015
Journalist
Journalists are given an extreme amount of power. Some of the topics they cover and
discuss are very important and need to be taken seriously. There is a big question that lingers
around when bringing up journalists and their right of free speech. People question if what they
are doing and what they report should be regulated.
After reading Free speech at risk, the underlying issues and opinions that are being
debated have to do with journalists and their right to speak and report freely about whatever they
choose. They then speak their opinion on the subject to inform the people concerned about the
situation. This has been a problem all around our world since the beginning of speech. People
have always tried to regulate speech and other activities of other people. Some of the issues
being covered about the topic of free speech and journalist are for security, offending others,
religion, different governments with different laws on the topic, media, and even more important
examples. There are many exceptional arguments from both sides of either regulating it or not.
There can be many benefits when having the government regulate the public’s free
speech. One factor that needs to be brought up first off, is that nobody wants a journalists
reporting false information. This would cause a lot more problems than the journalist thinks too.
Reporting false information can get people fired up and going hectic over situations that mean

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nothing, or should cause no trouble. Another thing about reporting false information is some
people only get the news from one particular cite or station, and that will be the only story and
outlook that the person hears about the issue. Another benefit of regulating free speech is the
government would have control over everything the people get to read, see, hear, and learn. This
could be a positive thing in some ways because this gives nobody the opportunity to do
something radical or extreme. It also keeps people close minded, which could help operate the
government and even the country if the government is handling everything correctly. None of the
citizens should be discussing free thoughts and ideas with others, only what the government
wants them to think. Another positive outcome of regulating the press and journalist is that so
many of them will not be getting captured, tortured, held for ransom, killed, and sometimes even
extreme as being beheaded. Whenever these journalist end up going to unknown areas and
different locations, they have no one to protect them but themselves and their crew if they have
one present with them. This leaves them open freely to any extremist, or terrorist group to pick
them up. When an underpowered group spots the journalist, they think of a dollar sign, or just a
way to show how extreme they can actually be, and capture them and make them an example of
them however they choose. In today’s society, free speech is dangerous with extremist groups
like ISIS. When looking on the news about ISIS, there are concerns with people who are not
even close to their state, wanting to go and join their activities. They send over recruiting
messages and videos for the people to watch, give them ideas on how to reach them and join
their activities in their state, and even give them false and dangerous information about their own
government.
There are also many positive effects when having to upregulate free speech. This can
give people and the citizens of a country relief and a safer feeling if they feel like they have

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access to everything and anything around them. This means journalist can travel wherever they
choose to report their findings, and say what their beliefs and opinions on the subject. This gives
people the ability to have access to news and stories that are happening all over the world,
instead of just what is around them. Another argument about upregulating free speech is that it is
a humans natural right whenever they are born to speak and think freely of whatever they
choose. Another positive example of having unregulated free speech is the internet and social
media. The internet itself is a massive place for information on almost anything that needs to be
found. The internet then leads people to places like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and other
popular social media cites. The free speech has a huge role in social media. It gives the power to
see what another person is thinking or feeling without being even in the same vicinity of that
person. It allows the information to come from anywhere you choose.
There will always be a debate for subjects like free speech. Especially in a democratic
society, where the government is for the people, by the people. There are always going to be the
people who believe they have the right to say whatever they please. There are also going to be
people where they believe that regulating the free speech is the best way to go, for the safety of
their families.
I believe that free speech should not be regulated. I think it is important to be able to hear
and have the right everyone’s opinions and stories. This can keep people informed about their
surrounding areas and dangers. People also have the freedom to express themselves how they
choose. Read whatever pleases them, it is that person’s life, let them dictate it however they
choose.
In one article called Free-media-speech: Free speech and public media, there is a large
focus on the legal rights to free speech. The author expresses that it is important for the public to

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be able to communicate with one another. I support this idea, the community should have the
right to have access to what is going on around them and to what is happening to others around
them. There needs to be diversity in media and free speech. We need more than just one source
to get our information from. The author also makes points about the new technology aiding free
speech and the media. This gives people with the technology immediate access to the news or
information of their own choice.
Another article that supports free speech is Free Speech and Guilty Minds. This article
first goes to the First Amendment of the Constitution. The article talks about how we were given
free speech in the Constitution. The article also discusses the state of mind of that person when
they are using free speech. The state of mind they are in lets the think it is nessacery to say the
things that are needed or wanted to be said.

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Works Cited
Greenblatt, A. 2013, April 26. Free speech at risk. CQ Researcher, 23, 377-400.
Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Kendrick, Leslie. "Free Speech And Guilty Minds." Columbia Law Review 114.5 (2014):
1255-1295. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.
Kenyon, Andrew T. "Free-Media-Speech: Free Speech And Public Media." International
Journal Of Media & Cultural Politics 10.2 (2014): 155-162. Communication & Mass
Media Complete. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.