Freedom of expression is the basic factor that all decisions are based on. Without this, nobody will be able to express their views/ opinions about everything. There are certain people that have advantages when it comes to expressing their views and the views of the public. I have chosen to conduct my research on journalists, because they have a major impact on our lives and our voices. All the vital information that is delivered to us has come from that of journalists.
For journalists, freedom of expression must have the most significance. After interviewing many journalists, most of them have given responses to the same effect. Michelle stated that “As a journalist freedom of expression means that everyone has a right to be heard and to have their own opinion. It also means that reporters have a right to tell things as if they are without fear of repercussions”. With relevance to the above mentioned question, it was also important to know what major impact/s freedom of expression had on peoples’ lives. Were the voices of the people actually being heard, or were the journalists just sending across their objective messages. Kaveel Singh made the following statement “I think with each paper that is printed someone’s voice is being heard. In a smaller community paper this is evident in every issue we print”.
The most important question that evolves from the outcome of these two questions are: What do you think has changed the most in media and your career in the last few years? Michelle has given me tremendous feedback on this question. This is very encouraging, as it should give everybody the confidence that their voices are being heard and that there is in actual fact an improvement in their lives. She states that “The most significant change in my career has been the advent of the Internet and the way this has affected the delivery of information. Most recently the increase in popularity of Facebook and Twitter has opened up new avenues and ways of promoting your brand and reaching your target audience”.
Although we may have improved or progressed in many ways, there will always be those boundaries or limitations that are in place. Journalists have many different boundaries in comparison to the different public spheres. Journalists of different newspapers from different communities may have many different limitations, depending on their specialization. Ms Moodley stated: “The only boundaries we have are - is it interesting and is it pertinent to the community in which we operate. We choose our stories based on what interest our reporters and what we feel reflects the state of our community. Obviously there is the aspect of writing responsibly and not choosing stories which will have far-reaching and negative consequences, just for the sake of printing a scandalous story.
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