This role explains the frequent media interventions in cases where these rights and order are violated by the government or other institutions. I`ve already mentioned leading examples of pro-social media actions - the exposure of the Watergate scandal and the Pentagon Papers on the Vietnam War.
These interventions brought tangible results - due to the exposure of abuses, President Nixon resigned, and the war saw fewer American casualties. Unlike in other countries that are grandly called democratic, in the U.S., journalists cannot be arrested for telling the truth, nor can a newsroom be shut down for actively seeking the truth. On the other hand, the government cannot be defamed unless investigative journalists can prove that governmental statements or actions are directed with particular malice against American society.
However, U.S. media are not only about heroic journalists and reporters fighting for the people`s right to information on government actions. Many "business sharks" focus on their own interests and the profits of their corporations rather than the public good. And since violence and sex sell best these days, many Americans criticize the media - take, for example, Michael Moore, a prominent advocate for reducing crime coverage in the news. Those who have seen "Bowling for Columbine" know what I mean. His idea of driving consumption through fear has many supporters among lawmakers, who have long tried to change the popular belief that "nothing sells like a corpse on the cover."
To address citizens` demands and Congressional pressure, the four main television networks - ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox - established a system in 1993 to inform viewers of a program’s violent nature just before it begins. In 1996, commercial and cable networks went a step further, implementing a system that monitors "doses" of violence, sex, and vulgarity in their programming. Depending on the content, an appropriate symbol appears on the screen during the broadcast to indicate whether children and teenagers should watch the program (a similar system now exists in Poland).
Paradoxically, this system was deemed a violation of the First Amendment in the United States. Since 1998, technological solutions have been applied instead, with televisions now factory-equipped with a V-chip, allowing parents to block broadcasts of programs that children should not watch.
Read all articles in the series The Fourth Estate in America.
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New articles in section History of the media
FORTUNE. The story of the most exclusive business magazine
Małgorzata Dwornik
Half of the pages in the pilot issue were left blank. Only one printing house in the country could meet the magazine’s quality standards. They coined the terms "business sociology" and "hedge fund". They created the world’s most prestigious company ranking. This is the story of Fortune.
History of Le Soir. A Belgian daily once free for ground floor readers
Małgorzata Dwornik
It started with an unusual sales policy and articles written personally by the king. This is where the comic hero Tintin made his name. The "fake edition" from the II World War went down in history. "Le Soir" more than once found itself targeted by authorities, censors, and even... terrorists and hackers.
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Reporterzy.info
History of media and journalism. The biggest titles, famous journalists, groundbreaking events in the press, radio, television and internet industries in the world. Stories developed and told by Małgorzata and Bartłomiej Dwornik from the online weekly Reporterzy.info.
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The Press in Historical Perspective
Agnieszka Osińska
Researchers trace the prehistory of modern press back to ancient times when primitive forms of mass communication began to emerge.
The Fourth Estate in America: The Irresistible Charm of the Glass Screen
Urszula Sienkiewicz
While war raged in Europe, a new craze took hold in the United States. In just a few years, a new idol took the prime spot in American homes - the television.
MONCAME. The news agency from Mongolia transmitted in Morse code
Małgorzata Dwornik
The first telegraphic dispatch from March 18, 1921, was published only by the Soviet Pravda. The first country to recognize it as an official source of information was South Africa in 1922. The hallmark of the Mongolian news agency MONTA, now MONCAME, was transmitting dispatches in Morse code.
History of television in Australia. It all began with a studio in a windmill
Małgorzata Dwornik
Already in 1885, thanks to Telephane, an invention by Henry Sutton, it was possible to watch horse races for the Melbourne Cup. The first real television broadcasts, conducted from 1934 at the old windmill on Wickham Terrace in Brisbane, were watched by only 18 television owners, but by the following year, test transmissions had begun in other major cities.