The Newspaper as a Source of Information - Essay Example

?Topic:  MEDIA LAW AND ETHICS – Newspaper Should be Totally Free. Introduction In today’s times, newspaper is a source of information which provides information on local and national level abundantly. Newspaper is one thing most people read and apart from internet radio and television there is no other main source for people from which to obtain news or information from. The events in the local community, nation and world are achievable from newspaper and this is why it is a pivotal source of information. In olden times newspaper was the main form of information about events to people. It gives information about all segments of community like social, political economical and entertainment. According to ezhilarasi(2009) “It also contains articles and important information for the farmers, the traders, the scientists, the teachers and the students”.The news paper must be totally free as it provided information on all matters of a community and it is the right of citizens of a country to know them.(Thesis) Newspaper informs, educates, enlightens and entertains people and it is the right of people to understand and entertain themselves .However if the newspapers are free then it will be government which provide free newspaper to the citizens. A private organization has no obligation to provide newspaper neither they will provide newspaper to public for free. The government needs to enlighten the citizens to upgrade their intellectual value and social personality. Public only has the main right to know about the events happening in the immediate locality and other places around the world. For this the Leveson enquiry can be taken as evidence support. What is newspaper? Newspaper can be described as a publication which is published daily or weekly which provides information and news to public about the local area and all around the world. It contains information about the current events and other information related to entertainment. As per abcteach(2008)“ A newspaper is a publication that is issued daily or weekly and includes local and international news stories, advertisements, announcements, opinions, cartoons, sports news and television listings”. Newspaper is a printed form of media and hence can go in depth about information than the evening news. Since it is elaborate about news and information, people prefer it as a source of news above all. Hence it is in printed form it can be carried to any place without any difficulty. Even with the advent of computer, newspaper takes a major role in the everyday life of people. In newspaper, news is provided in sections with proper headlines. This kind of composing of news makes it easier for the people to synthesize it and read it. Nowadays there are varieties of newspaper available in the market and each one project some advantage or another. People have preference over newspaper according to their will and taste .Some people find some newspaper advantageous over another and informative too. Newspaper also is informative and helpful for students. According to Dickinson(2009)“ Reading  a newspaper is a democratic responsibility – If you believe that then spend your time fighting the way most media outlets ignore this vital role” The role of newspaper in the society The newspaper has an important role to play in any democratic nation. It supplies vital information to public on which they can act and react. Newspaper publishes information and events in political, economical, social and about moral evils in the society. According to itimes(2011)“The papers publish all comings and goings happenings in the fields of social, economic, politic, sports and moral evils in the society” .It is a known fact that newspaper help to fight on many moral and ethical evils in the society. In UK there are numerous amounts of moral evils occurring in the society. With the help of newspaper, public get to know what these evils are and how to react on them. There are also economic evils like smuggling, drugs abuse, murder, corruption which need the attention of people. All the fight against evil can be done only with the help of newspapers circulated in UK. The mass communication media had brought world more closer than before and people are able to contemplate on national and international more deeply than before. Newspaper also contains advertisement on various things which enables people to access or buy things easily. This is a matter of real importance as people need many things to use in their everyday life and newspaper has the power and capacity to provide information on these things. However, different people read newspaper for different reasons. In his article Rajkoomar(2011) writes that “In a democracy, there should be an efficient and fearless press. Press is his mirror of the society”. Newspaper the right of people In General, it can be said that newspaper is the right of the people in a democratic nation. Newspaper also plays a role of mediator among government and people. Through newspaper people get to know the activities and intentions of the government. Newspaper is the mirror of the society and people get to identify society through newspapes.However, the press has some cultural practice and ethics. They cannot publish whatever they wish but analyze and screen the information they plan to publish. In UK there is newspaper society which screens the code of conduct of press around the nation. According to Leveson Enquiry(2012) “The Newspaper Society represents the regional media industry. The majority of regional newspaper publishers,whether large group or small family-run business, are in membership of the NS”. The government mostly works in their own interests and hence people have the right to know the activities of the government as the governed people. It is the right of every citizen to get avail of the newspaper free of cost as a citizen of the country. Being a tax payer also they have a right towards newspaper with free of cost. However self regulation is important for newspaper. As per Leveson enquiry(2012) “the greatest strength of self-regulation in the regional press is the day to day observance of the Editors’ Code of Practice by its 10,000 journalists and editors”. People do not have to spend to know about the society, it is their primary duty of Government to publish free newspapers to society to educate and enlighten them. Newspaper totally free of cost As per Levisohn Enquiry(2012)“In accordance with the industry’s commitment to press freedom, the Newspaper Society has worked to promote freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of information, open justice and open government, through its work as a trade association”. Here we can see how it is articulated about the freedom of information, open justice and open government This is what it means by a democratic nation. Freedom to people to express is most important so newspaper helps in synthesizing news by the public. For this the availability of newspaper for free is very much important. People have no need to spend to get information of the government and nation but they ought to get it for free. When the public get the newspaper for free they also understand how much the government values their human rights and freedom. Government is by the people for the people and of the people, so every activity must be in front of the eyes of people. There should not be blinds on people’s eye so that government can manipulate them and take advantage of them. For this reason, there is publication which let out the happenings in every field of activity in a locality or nation. Not every person can afford to buy newspaper daily, so it is utmost important that it is provided to them by the government at free of cost. Moreover, the Leveson enquiry is also documenting that freedom of expression, open justice and open government is the characteristic of newspaper. Conclusion Newspaper is a public property and it must be free of cost to give more power to the public. In the Leveson enquiry it is put forward that the newspaper works with ethical and moral conduct. Newspaper needs to have a check on its working boundaries and in no case has the right to exploit the freedom of expression of people. In the Leveson enquiry, the newspaper society is commenting that every newspaper published in UK has the obligation to work under the code of conduct. Moreover, it has a self regulation working style where the code of conduct of journalist and press are checked on a continual basis. The leveson enquiry also comment that freedom of expression, open government and open justice is very important favors offered by a newspaper. If the newspaper is available free of cost, and then the public would be more interested in knowing the figure and facts going around locally and nationally in a country. Every citizen must be awakened to read news and this is the duty of the government to be transparent and give people chance to know information about their ongoing activities. Moreover the journalists bring out the illegal activities and injustice going around in the city and nation which alert the public to take action. Public has the right to know everything and also to act and react on matters which are evil for the society. By charging a cost on newspaper, the government is putting blind on their eyes to know the facts about government and country. So it is the right of the public to know all matters of the country and get avail of newspaper free of cost. Work Cited abc teach. 2008. What Is a Newspaper?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.abcteach.com/free/r/readinganewspaper.pdf. [Accessed 16 May 12]. Dickinson,Andy. 2009. Students don’t read newspapers Shock!. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.andydickinson.net/2009/03/12/students-dont-read-newspapers-shock/. [Accessed 16 May 12]. ezhilarasi. 2009. The Newspaper and its uses. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/83108-The-Newspaper-its-uses.aspx. [Accessed 16 May 12]. itimes. 2011. The Role of Newspaper in Today's society. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.itimes.com/public/people/5zlh2y3ovuzrpfgedfo2h332m/blog/The-Role-of-Newspaper-in-Todays-Society-in-India. [Accessed 16 May 12]. Leveson Enquiry. 2012. LEVESON INQUIRY: CULTURE, PRACTICE AND ETHICS OF THE PRESS. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Submission-by-Newspaper-Society.pdf. [Accessed 16 May 12](quoted 3 times in the essay so total 8) Rajkoomar,M. 2011. Essay on the Role of Newspapers. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.publishyourarticles.org/knowledge-hub/essay/an-essay-on-the-role-of-newspapers.html. [Accessed 16 May 12]. Read More