Media Ethics - China and Its Censored Stipulation - Term Paper Example

I remember seeing a rather obscured man years ago wearing a shirt with the patterned circular target on his shirt. It was dull as far as t-shirt designs go these days but what stuck on my mind was the statement on the shirt, it goes: “Don’t Shoot” scribed above the target and below it is written: “JOURNALIST.” It may strike many as peculiar that even today journalists are still bounded by a number of conformities that impedes them from being what they are supposed to be, the vanguards of society. The ‘watchdog’ or the ‘fourth estate’ as so many before has tagged them with. Danger in so many ways is and continues to be one of the hazards of the trade. The advent of technology has brought forth a new media that allows for and searches for a new definition of press freedom. In this new avenue, censorship is becoming a mere obstacle that can be hurdled. This is not to say that oppressive governments cannot find their way into the loop but admit it or not, it has opened up a number of possibilities that allows for creativity. In the same way that administrations found alternative ways to deal with the issue and avert from the muckraking that is ruinous to them. China and its Censored Stipulation The Asian region remains the front line in terms of censorship. The communist nations of China and Vietnam records the most number of jailed web radicals to date. The issue of censorship will never seem to elude the continent as oppressive governments are persistent upon their unruly implementation or lack thereof of press freedom. The World Wide Web has turned into a battlefield where journalists, guised in anonymity, can express themselves and expose subsequent governments. But in a number of times, this is not without its undue consequences entailed (Kushner, par. 1-2). The current trend, as Adam B. Kushner of Newsweek said is that, “governments dont just censor, they scare.” With the 210 million users of Internet in China, the government has long realized that it will be impossible to police all of them, and so in a last ditch effort for control, text messages have circulated that aims to jolt fear in common and oftentimes apolitical masses. This is a type of surveillance wherein authorities make it seem they are scattered all over to prevent and taunt those who desire to search for materials online. On a regular basis, China denies access to 19,000 websites that are considered threatening by the Chinese government according to a study conducted by the Harvard Law School. The study found out that the capital, Beijing, blocks thousands of domains with political, religious and news content. This also includes a number of education and entertainment websites. Google was blocked for some time in September 2002 but then again restored within the succeeding months. Only those who have the technical know-how are able to dodge the intricacies of the censorship imposed by the government and they do so to a level of tremendous personal danger (Kahn, par. 1-4). Differentiated from Repression 1.0 where it is no less than overt censorship. Repression 2.0 as the author aptly puts it derived its name from the Web 2.0 technologies that includes the popular social network sites and web mail. These innovations made it difficult to determine what sites to block and what to show. The ones with the job of censoring do not have the capacity as in turn it may cause too much restriction even for informative sites or too little hurdle for the viewing of unwarranted sites (Kushner, par. 3). What they are trying to do instead is to create a "panopticon effect" where it would seem like they are always watching, therefore, creating an omniscient presence to instill fear among the public. A very good example is the internet police avatars Jingjing and Chacha, a cartoon that might appear onscreen when a domain site is visited that would ‘advice’ people against unlawful internet activities. There have been cases in China where police abruptly show up in a Netizen’s house moments after they click on an illegal site. This may lead up to character degradation, cross-examination, threats, false accusations and even trials. Countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia have gone lengths as to try and prosecute bloggers for subversion and other absurd charges (Kushner, par. 1-2). As a precaution, hosts for blogging censor themselves. Repression 2.0 exposes the vulnerabilities of the users and providers to these scare tactics. For the most part, it tests and illustrates the subtlety of those who are not daunted by the ‘panopticon.’ Codes and allegories emerge as a particular loophole where people can still keep on with political discussions despite the authoritarian government breathing on their necks. Minimizing the risk but not turning their backs on their causes. China’s Internet Police China maintains that the primary reason for such an outrageous online censorship is to prevent the citizens from accessing pornographic sites but as the study found out, they were only banning little than 15% of the popular sexually containing websites. This percentage is insubstantial in comparison to Saudi Arabia which maintains the same objective and bans 86% of the sites in the listing (Kahn, par. 12). The Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center is a government body assigned to ‘find and fight’ unlawful online materials. It sets to inform websites regarding crude content “that violates social morality and damages the physical and mental health of youths.” This seemingly sensible organization is of course not without its obvious agenda of preventing dissent. It has blacklisted 91 sites and counting, insisting upon the servers to remove particular contents. Just this January, they are responsible for the shutting down of 1,250 websites where 41 people had been arrested (Morozov, par. 1). One cannot help but wonder on the timing of the intense crackdown, especially when the internet is swiftly becoming the most efficient medium for unraveling corruption in the government. "Human-flesh search engines" are people who call on officials who are believed to be abusing their authority with the aid of their computers. These bloggers lead the investigations of a number of officers that are living well beyond their means. The living ‘search engines’ are able to dig deeper into issues of corruption attributed to high-ranking members of the party and their consequent exposure (Morozov, par. 5-6). Today, a new generation of Chinese bloggers emerged with a new strategy in making their voices heard. As Xiao Qiang said, "The new bloggers are talking back to authority, but in a humorous way." Xiao is China Internet Project at the University of California, Berkeley director. Bloggers employ humor and satire but they are nonetheless influential in their opinions (French, par. 9-13). This impressive air of resourcefulness that is apparent in countries that considerably lack press freedom has turned into a battle for who is the most cunning. Another medium that has become an integral part of today’s generation is the usage and boundless capability of the mobile phone for the exchange of information. This widely used piece of technology accounts for certain phenomena that propels press freedom and mass communication into a whole different level and arena. Indeed, as millions with opposable thumb and a functional cellular phone may gain access to forbidden and otherwise hush information. Kenya Texting In Kenya, as voters prepare for the presidential elections. Reporters utilized text messaging in the proliferation and receiving of information. Journalists, stationed in the newsrooms rely on text messaging for the regular updates to tally the votes. As this happens, Raila Odinga, of the opposition was seen to move away from the competition and win. But two days later, awe was registered as incumbent Mwai Kibaki was declared to have won the election. Earlier, they have figured Odinga the winner as poll results accumulated through the plethora of journalists’ text messages clearly showed him as the winner of the presidential election (Rhodes, par. 1-2). Reporting thru text message evades government censorship and turns the light on quite possibly the biggest issue in Kenya: the relentless ethnic rioting that causes hundreds of deaths. It is definitely a very powerful means that allows for a heightened sense of press freedom though not as apparent as one may suppose. Text messaging has become an essential and ordinary device used for reporting (Rhodes, par. 4-8). Erik Hersman, a Web developer stationed in Kenya attributes the cell phone as a means of representation for people. It provides them with a voice and gives transparency to concerns that used to be unavailable to them. Cell phones hold a particular substance in reporting in Africa as it allows for them to heed the obstacles set forth by authoritative governments. But it is not without its own vulnerabilities. It can be used to intimidate journalists and gives access to unethical behavior (Rhodes, par. 8-10). Africa’s Technological Shift With all things considered, news executives welcome text messaging as a vital tool in the news gathering phase. Dissemination of information in real time has become an important criterion for African journalists. This is always because of the constant reminder of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 where mass media, thru the Télévision Libre des Mille Collines contributed to the instigation of violence that led to the killing of around 800, 000 Tutsis and fairing Hutus to no avail. Africanews in May commenced a project where journalists are equipped with phones with GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) for the inconspicuous sending of SMS, pictures and videos to ease the burden of communication and further enable journalists with their work (Rhodes, par. 18). As Editor Olivier Nyirubugara said, "The advantage of the method is that the journalists dont have to go to cyber- cafés, which are under surveillance, and they can film without drawing too much attention" (Rhodes, par. 20). These are all too important concerns that forestall freedom of the press and circumvent authoritarian governments. Where the press is limited to what they can say, actions are taken to maintain two steps forward and leave authorities two steps behind. A news cell phone system specifically designed for the news was launched by Kenyas Nation Media Group. While a leading daily newspaper in Nigeria, ‘The Punch,’ is already working on news format designed for cell phone subscribers. Information is now made available to an increased number of people rapidly. Journalists are now able to gain access and transmit reports instantaneously. This in turn creates a culture of diversity in the media outlets. Africans are now able bodied to gather and report their own news as to before when most rely on foreign media to provide for them. And on the center of all this is the tiny but all-powerful cellular phone (Rhodes, par. 22-23). Resourcefulness in the Midst of Intense Censorship Expression is expression. The right for expression overrides the right for authoritarian rule. As always we soar when our spirits are low. Man becomes creative when his resources are scarce. That’s how he survives, that is how he thrives. The journalistic impediment which is censorship is not without its venerable merit. When the watchdog watches over society, who watches over it? When it is tamed true expression is ceased. For some of us we learned to speak before we learned to walk. Speaking is as natural as breathing. Opinions matter because our thinking matters. In the midst of extreme censorship there will still be those who will brave the repercussions just for their voices to be heard. This is true because not everyone is emulative of Abraham Lincoln who surrounded himself with his detractors. For the most part, certain governments, as the ones previously discussed, prefer to keep a tightened hold to prevent anyone from speaking against them. It is obtuse to say that repression fosters passivity. On the contrary, it opens up new prospective. It provides for the creativeness and courage of journalists to speak up and do their duties at the expense of their own freedom. Because more importantly, journalists serve the truth, they are the defenders of it and not of any political order. They literally risk their own lives and reputation for the sake of disseminating the truth. In these countries, journalists do wear targets; they wear it like a badge of courage. Not just a shirt but everyday in their lives. These threats that are so real they push them aside because they are aware that in many cases there are causes much bigger than themselves. This fosters their ingenuity that will someday gear towards societal growth. Bibliography French, Howard. A Party Girl Leads Chinas Online Revolution. New York Times. 2005. 10 Feb. 2009. Kahn, Joseph. China Has Worlds Tightest Internet Censorship, Study Finds. New York Times. 2002. 10 Feb. 2009. . Kushner, Adam. Repression 2.0. Newsweek. 2008. 15 Feb. 2009. . Mozarov, Evgeny. “To Stop Dissent, Call it Smut.” Newsweek. 2 Feb. 2009: 34-35. Rhodes, Tom. In Text-Message Reporting, Opportunity and Risk. Committee to Protect Journalists. 2008. 12 Feb. 2009. < http://cpj.org/2009/02/text-messaging-africa.php>. Trionfi, Barbara. Cyber-censorship Finds a Home. International Press Institute. 2008. 12 Feb. 2009. . Read More