Journalism regulation in a changing media landscape

Abstract

The media plays a colossal role in the defense of human rights. Freedom of expression serves as a counterweight to a despotic government since those in power have vested interests to exploit the media as propaganda megaphones. Free speech is not an absolute right; it is balanced with other rights and responsibilities. This study questions the double standard of freedom of expression and whether limitations are truly lawful, legitimate and necessary in a society which boasts freedom, acceptance and diversity. The dispersion of media laws and regulators renders compliance cumbersome. This study seeks to criticise the erosion to sustainable journalism and explores which caveats need to be put in place from an ethical point of view, as well as the urgent need for debate and action to protect civil liberties. Abuses of enlightenment ideals which society should cherish, impoverish Western countries. Anachronistic criminal defamation laws contribute to self-censorship and are misused to silence the dissenters who fight for the universal aspirations of democracy and freedom, often risking their life. The Internet as the new frontier for expression brings unprecedented opportunities for knowledge sharing. It is the free-flow of knowledge which creates the world; thus all forms of journalism need to be shielded from surveillance. This study addresses the question: - who is a journalist, which has direct and serious implications for source protection yet has been struggled with for over a decade. Ultimately what true democracy needs is the empowerment of citizens to express their autonomy, not their reduction to powerless cogs in the machinery.