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Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Digital Fortress Chapter 76-80
Section 76 Outside the Seville air terminal, a taxi sat inert, the meter running. The traveler in the wire-edge glasses looked through the fortified glass windows of the sufficiently bright terminal. He realized he'd showed up in time. He could see a light young lady. She was helping David Becker to a seat. Becker was clearly in torment. He doesn't yet know torment, the traveler thought. The young lady pulled a little item from her pocket and held it out. Becker held it up and considered it in the light. At that point he slipped it on his finger. He pulled a heap of bills from his pocket and paid the young lady. They talked a couple of moments longer, and afterward the young lady embraced him. She waved, bore her duffel, and took off over the concourse. Finally, the man in the taxi thought. Finally. Part 77 Strathmore ventured out of his office onto the arrival with his firearm leveled. Susan trailed not far behind, thinking about whether Hale was still in Node 3. The light from Strathmore's screen behind them tossed spooky shadows of their bodies out over the ground stage. Susan crawled nearer to the administrator. As they moved away from the entryway, the light blurred, and they were dove into murkiness. The main light on the Crypto floor originated from the stars above and the black out dimness from behind the broke Node 3 window. Strathmore crept forward, searching for where the thin flight of stairs started. Changing the Berretta to one side hand, he grabbed for the handrail with his right. He figured he was most likely similarly as terrible a shot with his left, and he required his appropriate for help. Tumbling down this specific arrangement of steps could disable somebody forever, and Strathmore's fantasies for his retirement didn't include a wheelchair. Susan, blinded by the darkness of the Crypto arch, dropped with a hand on Strathmore's shoulder. Indeed, even at the separation of two feet, she was unable to see the leader's framework. As she ventured onto each metal track, she rearranged her toes forward searching for the edge. Susan started thinking again about gambling a visit to Node 3 to get Hale's pass-key. The authority demanded Hale wouldn't have the guts to contact them, yet Susan wasn't so certain. Robust was edgy. He had two choices: Escape Crypto or go to prison. A voice continued disclosing to Susan they should hang tight for David's call and utilize his pass-key, however she knew there was no assurance he would even discover it. She thought about what was taking David such a long time. Susan gulped her misgiving and continued onward. Strathmore plummeted quietly. There was no compelling reason to alarm Hale they were coming. As they approached the base, Strathmore eased back, feeling for the last advance. At the point when he discovered it, the impact point of his loafer tapped on hard dark tile. Susan felt his shoulder tense. They'd entered the risk zone. Sound could be anyplace. Out there, presently holed up behind TRANSLTR, was their goal Node 3. Susan asked Hale was still there, lying on the floor, whining in torment like the pooch he was. Strathmore let go of the railing and exchanged the firearm back to his correct hand. Without a word, he moved out into the murkiness. Susan held tight to his shoulder. On the off chance that she lost him, the main way she'd discover him again was to talk. Sound may hear them. As they moved away from the security of the steps, Susan reviewed late-night rounds of tag as a child she'd ventured out from command post, she was in the open. She was helpless. TRANSLTR was the main island in the tremendous dark ocean. Each couple of steps Strathmore halted, weapon ready, and tuned in. The main sound was the black out murmur from underneath. Susan needed to pull him back, back to wellbeing, back to command post. There appeared to be faces in obscurity all around her. Most of the way to TRANSLTR, the quiet of Crypto was broken. Some place in the dimness, apparently directly on them, a sharp blaring penetrated the night. Strathmore spun, and Susan lost him. Dreadful, Susan shot her arm out, grabbing for him. In any case, the officer was no more. The space where his shoulder had been was currently simply void air. She lurched forward into the vacancy. The blaring clamor proceeded. It was close by. Susan wheeled in the obscurity. There was a stir of attire, and abruptly the signaling halted. Susan solidified. A moment later, as though from one of her most noticeably terrible youth bad dreams, a dream showed up. A face appeared legitimately before her. It was spooky and green. It was the substance of an evil presence, sharp shadows extending upward across twisted highlights. She bounced back. She went to run, however it snatched her arm. ââ¬Å"Don't move!â⬠it instructed. For a moment, she thought she saw Hale in those two consuming eyes. Be that as it may, the voice was not Hale's. Also, the touch was excessively delicate. It was Strathmore. He was lit from underneath by a shining article that he'd quite recently pulled from his pocket. Her body drooped with help. She felt herself begin breathing once more. The article in Strathmore's grasp had a type of electronic LED that was emitting a greenish sparkle. ââ¬Å"Damn,â⬠Strathmore reviled softly. ââ¬Å"My new pager.â⬠He gazed in nauseate at the SkyPager in his palm. He'd neglected to draw in the quiet ring highlight. Unexpectedly, he'd gone to a neighborhood hardware store to purchase the gadget. He'd paid money to keep it mysterious; no one knew better than Strathmore how intently the NSA watched their own-and the advanced messages sent and got from this pager were something Strathmore certainly expected to keep hidden. Susan glanced around precariously. On the off chance that Hale hadn't realized they were coming, he knew now. Strathmore squeezed a couple of catches and read the approaching message. He moaned discreetly. It was all the more awful news from Spain-not from David Becker, however from the other party Strathmore had sent to Seville. 3,000 miles away, a versatile observation van sped along the obscured Seville lanes. It had been dispatched by the NSA under ââ¬Å"Umbraâ⬠mystery from an army installation in Rota. The two men inside were tense. It was not the first occasion when they'd got crisis orders from Fort Meade, yet the requests didn't typically originate from so high up. The specialist in the driver's seat brought behind him. ââ¬Å"Any indication of our man?â⬠The eyes of his accomplice never left the feed from the wide-point video screen on the rooftop. ââ¬Å"No. Keep driving.â⬠Part 78 Underneath the curving mass of links, Jabba was perspiring. He was still on his back with a penlight grasped in his teeth. He'd become acclimated to working late on ends of the week; the less furious NSA hours were regularly the main occasions he could perform equipment upkeep. As he moved the intensely hot patching iron through the labyrinth of wires above him, he moved with extraordinary consideration; scorching any of the dangling sheathes would be debacle. Simply one more not many inches, he thought. The activity was taking far longer than he'd envisioned. Similarly as he brought the tip of the iron against the last string of crude bind, his phone rang pointedly. Jabba frightened, his arm jerked, and an enormous glob of sizzling, condensed lead fell on his arm. ââ¬Å"Shit!â⬠He dropped the iron and basically gulped his penlight. ââ¬Å"Shit! Poo! Shit!â⬠He cleaned irately at the drop of cooling patch. It moved off, leaving an amazing welt. The chip he was attempting to bind set up dropped out and hit him in the head. ââ¬Å"Goddamn it!â⬠Jabba's telephone called him once more. He overlooked it. ââ¬Å"Midge,â⬠he reviled faintly. Damn you! Crypto's fine! The telephone rang on. Jabba returned to work reseating the new chip. A moment later the chip was set up, however his telephone was all the while ringing. For the wellbeing of Christ, Midge! Surrender it! The telephone rang an additional fifteen seconds lastly halted. Jabba inhaled a moan of alleviation. After sixty seconds the radio overhead popped. ââ¬Å"Would the boss Sys-Sec please contact the principle switchboard for a message.â⬠Jabba feigned exacerbation in dismay. She simply doesn't surrender, isn't that right? He overlooked the page. Section 79 Strathmore supplanted his Skypager in his pocket and looked through the obscurity toward Node 3. He went after Susan's hand. ââ¬Å"Come on.â⬠Be that as it may, their fingers never contacted. There was a long throaty cry from out of the obscurity. A roaring figure lingered a Mack truck hunkering down without any headlights. A moment later, there was a crash and Strathmore was sliding over the floor. It was Hale. The pager had parted with them. Susan heard the Berretta fall. For a second she was planted set up, uncertain where to run, what to do. Her senses advised her to get away, however she didn't have the lift code. Her heart advised her to help Strathmore, however how? As she spun in franticness, she expected to hear the hints of an actual existence and-demise battle on the floor, however there was nothing. Everything was out of nowhere quiet as though Hale had hit the administrator and afterward vanished go into the night. Susan paused, stressing her eyes into the murkiness, trusting Strathmore wasn't do any harm. After what appeared to be an unending length of time, she murmured, ââ¬Å"Commander?â⬠Indeed, even as she said it, she understood her slip-up. A moment later Hale's smell gushed behind her. She turned past the point of no return. All of a sudden, she was contorting, panting for air. She ended up squashed in a recognizable headlock, her face against Hale's chest. ââ¬Å"My balls are murdering me.â⬠Hale gasped in her ear. Susan's knees clasped. The stars in the vault started to turn over her. Part 80 Robust clasped down on Susan's neck and hollered into the haziness. ââ¬Å"Commander, I have your darling. I need out!â⬠His requests were met with quietness. Robust's grasp fixed. ââ¬Å"I'll break her neck!â⬠A firearm positioned legitimately behind them. Strathmore's voice was quiet and even. ââ¬Å"Let her go.â⬠Susan jumped in torment. ââ¬Å"Commander!â⬠Solidness spun Susan's body toward the sound. ââ¬Å"You shoot and you'll hit your valuable Susan. You prepared to take that chance?â⬠Strathmore's voice drew nearer. ââ¬Å"Let her go.â⬠ââ¬Å"No way. You'll murder me.â⬠ââ¬Å"I'm not go
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Visit The Cosmic Pillars of Creation, Again
Visit The Cosmic Pillars of Creation, Again Do you recollect the first occasion when you saw the Pillars of Creation? This vast item and the spooky pictures of it that appeared in January 1995, made by cosmologists utilizing the Hubble Space Telescope, caught people groups minds with their magnificence. The PIllars are a piece of an a starbirth locale like the Orion Nebula and others in our own world where hot youthful stars are warming up billows of gas and dust and where heavenly EGGs (short for vanishing vaporous globules) are as yet framing stars that may sometime illuminate that piece of the galaxy.â â The mists that make up the Pillars are seeded with youthful protostellar objects-basically starbabies-concealed away from our view. Or then again, in any event they were until cosmologists built up an approach to utilize infrared-delicate instruments to glance through those mists to get at the infants inside. The picture here is the aftereffect of Hubbles capacity to peer past the cover that conceals starbirth from our intrusive eyes. The view is amazing.â Presently Hubble has been pointed again toward the acclaimed columns. Its Wide-Field 3 camera caught the multi-hued sparkle of the clouds gas mists, uncovered wispy ringlets of dim grandiose residue, and takes a gander at the rust-hued elephantsââ¬â¢ trunk-molded columns. The telescopes à visible-light picture it took gave a refreshed, more keen perspective on the scene that so got everyones consideration in 1995.â Notwithstanding this new noticeable light picture, Hubble has given a definite view that youd get on the off chance that you could strip away the billows of gas and residue concealing the heavenly infants in the columns, which is the thing that an infrared light view enables you to do. à Infrared infiltrates a significant part of the clouding residue and gas and discloses an increasingly new perspective on the columns, changing them into wispy outlines set against a foundation peppered with stars. Those infant stars, covered up in the obvious light view, show up unmistakably as they structure inside the columns themselves. In spite of the fact that the first picture was named the Pillars of Creation, this new picture shows that they are likewise mainstays of decimation. à How accomplishes that work? à There are hot, youthful stars out of the field of view in these pictures, and they discharge solid radiation which decimates the residue and gas in these columns. Basically, the columns are being disintegrated by solid breezes from those gigantic youthful stars. The spooky pale blue murkiness around the thick edges of the columns in the obvious light view is material that is being warmed by splendid youthful stars and dissipating endlessly. In this way, its altogether conceivable that the youthful stars that havent cleared their columns could be interfered with from shaping further as their more established kin rip apart the gas and residue they have to form.â Unexpectedly, a similar radiation that destroys the columns is additionally liable for illuminating them and making the gas and residue gleam with the goal that Hubble can see them.â These arent the main billows of gas and residue that are being etched by the activity of hot, youthful stars. Space experts find such mind boggling mists around the Milky Way Galaxy-and in close by systems too. We realize they exist in such places as the Carina nebula(in the southern half of the globe sky) which additionally contains a terrific supermassive star going to explode called Eta Carinae. à And, as space experts use Hubble and different telescopes to examine these spots over extensive stretches of time, they can follow movements in the mists (probably by planes of material streaming ceaselessly from the concealed hot youthful stars, for instance), and watch as the powers of star creation do their thing.â The Pillars of Creation lie around 6,500 light-years from us and is a piece of a bigger haze of gas and residue called the Eagle Nebula, in the heavenly body Serpens.
Monday, August 3, 2020
Why Students Take Drugs in College
Why Students Take Drugs in College 3 Reasons why Students Take Drugs in College HomeâºEducation Postsâº3 Reasons why Students Take Drugs in College Education PostsStudentâs drug use is one of the most significant problems in colleges. Very often, when students start their academic life, they face such problem as drug abuse. One may think âwhy students take drugs in college?â It is a very good question. There are so many reasons students may become drug users such as relaxing, escaping from bad memories, easing pain, fitting in, and others. They think that drugs will help them to cope with problems, however, they do not understand that drugs only worsen it. Starting from the first intake of drugs, students get into prison of drug dependence. It may cause serious consequences such as health problems, poor academic performance, random sexual contacts, and addiction. It is clear that students know all these risks but still get into drug dependence. You may ask why?Looking where to BUY AN ESSAY?Save your time an d money! Use QualityCustomEssays.com professionals service to get an A+ paper Place an order get 15%offfor your first orderHere are 3 main reasons why students begin taking drugs in college:Bad companyPeople with whom we communicate have a great influence on us. Students come to college, find new friends, and establish new connections. Of course it is good, but sometimes they may get into bad company. Since students want to fit in with their new friendsâ way of life, they start imitating them. Good advice for such students is to stop copying others, be yourself and avoid companies where people do not really understand what consequences drug abuse may lead to.Overcoming troubles in studyingAs students have a lot of different tasks, they do not know how to cope with all of them. They are overloaded and do not see another way to feel themselves with energy as to start taking drugs. Itâs true, some drugs arouse a feeling of energy, but then after a few sleepless nights, your organi sm is tired and exhausted. Do not fall into drug trap since health is the biggest treasure in our life. Therefore, whenever you cannot overcome all academic troubles, do not choose the road of addiction since it is better to contact qualitycustomessays.com and get help needed.Relieving from stressCollege is really very stressful period of our life. We cannot cope with all obstacles and stressful situations, therefore, some students consider that drugs will help them. It is a false thought since they only worsen the situation aggravating your stress and causing drug addiction.Our life is full of temptations but it is our choice whether to yield to or resist them!
Saturday, May 23, 2020
The Russian Revolution and Animal Farm Essay - 1424 Words
The book Animal Farm by George Orwell was written in comparison to the way that the Russian revolution had taken place. The main idea of the book was that the petite bourgeoisieââ¬â¢s (the middle class people) were the ones who took advantage of the revolt. The petite bourgeoisie moved up the social tower to be the bourgeoisie (the noble class). The proletariat (peasants) did not want to rebel because they were to worried about what they were going to eat the next day. Mr. Jones the owner and farmer of the Manor Farm from the book Animal Farm symbolizes Czar Nicholas II, leader of Russia during the revolution. Jones represents the old government, the last of the Czarââ¬â¢s. Czar Nicholas II was a poor leader at best, irresponsible with hisâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦W.H.C. Smith, in his book The Last Czar, describes how Nicholas II disliked public life and public duties (31). He also states, ââ¬Å" It was in his private life, in the role of husband and father, that Nic holas excelled. He loved his wife and his children and indeed made the small world of his own family his entire world (Smith 31). Jones also left the farm unattended which lead to hardships for the animals, just as Czar Nicholas II left Russia unattended also. ââ¬Å"On Midsummerââ¬â¢s Eve, which was a Saturday, Mr. Jones went into Willingdon and got so drunk that he did not come back till midday on Sunday. The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. When Mr. Jones got back he immediately went to sleep on the drawing room sofa with the News of the World over his face, so that evening came and the animals were still unfed (Orwell 13-14) Czar Nicholas II and Mr. Jones are both poor leaders and irresponsible when it comes to their duties. Mr. Jones was cruel, leaving the animals with small rations of food. The animal could not have bared it any longer, knowing that the food was there but Mr. Jones would not feed them. After Mr. Jones irresponsibility of not feeding the animals, he comes out and whips them for opening the store-shed which stored the animals aliment. ââ¬Å"At last they could stand it no longer. One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn andShow MoreRelatedAnimal Farm And Russian Revolution Essay1202 Words à |à 5 PagesANIMAL FARM THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION ââ¬Å"All Animals Are Equal But Some Are More Equal Than Others.1 At the beginning of the 19th century much of Europe viewed Russia as an undeveloped, backward society. The Russian Empire executed serfdom which is when landless peasants had to serve those who owned land. This went on quite far into the 19th century. Serfdom disappeared in most of the Europe by 1500. The Russian Revolution which took place in the year 1917 was an explosive political event that tookRead MoreAnimal Farm and the Russian Revolution - Essay895 Words à |à 4 PagesGeorge Orwells novel Animal Farm is a great example of allegory and political satire. The novel was written to criticize totalitarian regimes and particularly Stalins corrupt rule in Russia. In the first chapter Orwell gives his reasons for writing the story and what he hopes it will accomplish. It also gives reference to the farm and how it relates to the conflicts of the Russian revolution. The characters, settings, and the plot were written to describe the social upheaval during that periodRead MoreEssay on Animal Farm And The Russian Revolution877 Words à |à 4 Pages George Orwellââ¬â¢s novel Animal Farm is a great example of allegory and political satire. The novel was written to criticize totalitarian regimes and particularly Stalins corrupt rule in Russia. In the first chapter Orwell gives his reasons for writing the story and what he hopes it will accomplish. It also gives reference to the farm and how it relates to the conflicts of the Russian revolution. The characters, settings, and the plot were written to describe the social upheaval during that periodRead MoreSimilarities between Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution874 Words à |à 4 Pagesï » ¿The Russian Revolution Animal Farm Animal Farm is a satirical novella by George Orwell, and it can also be understood as a modern fable. The book is about a group of animals who drive away the humans from the farm which they live on, and it is primarily based on the Russian Revolution. Animal Farm is well known as an allegory. Most fables have two levels of meanings. On the surface, the fable is about animals. But on the second level, the animals stand for types of people or ideas. The way theRead MoreAllegory Of George Orwells Animal Farm And The Russian Revolution749 Words à |à 3 Pagesbook called Animal Farm demonstrates that the story is an allegory for the Russian Revolution. The story explains about power and how is the society being ruled. At first, it has been nice, until there is power and nobody is actually equal to each other. Mostly, the animals or people do not accept anything like that, but the society has changed and it will never be the same. Therefore, the book, Animal Farm, and history, Russian Revolution, have similar connections of what do the animals and peopleRead MoreThe Russian Revolution and George Orwells Animal Farm Essay1241 Words à |à 5 PagesThe Russian Revolution and George Orwells Animal Farm Animal Farm can be read in two different ways. The first is as a childs book about animals that can walk and talk, but the second is to understand what message the book is trying give. To understand this message you need to understand about the Russian revolution 1917. In the book Animalism is created and in the revolution communist leaders gain power. The book directly links a person from the revolution toRead MoreBased on the Russian Revolution, Animal Farm by George Orwell672 Words à |à 3 Pageshideous and cruel. In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, we see a terrible dictatorship based on the Russian Revolution. The pigs on Animal Farm instantly became the leaders of the farm. ââ¬Å"The pigs did not actually work, but directed the others with their superior knowledge it was natural to assume their leadership (Orwell 19). After Jones leaves, the animals work together trying to make the farm a better place for animals. Shortly after the overthrow of the farm the pigs start learning how toRead MoreSnowball from Animal Farm and Leon Trotskys Roles in the Russian Revolution891 Words à |à 4 Pagesplayed an important role in the Russian Revolution and so did the character of Snowball from the novel Animal Farm. Their life actions had a positive affect towards history even though their goals were never accomplished. Leon Trotsky Leon Trotsky was the chairman of the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. The organization was that, under Leninââ¬â¢s direction, that shown the overthrow of the state which is called or known ââ¬Å"The October Revolutionâ⬠Since the Revolt is originatedRead MoreAllegory Animal Farm Analysis773 Words à |à 4 PagesAnimal Farm Allegory Essay According to dictionary.com, Revolution: an overthrown or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed. Orwell wrote Animal Farm to be a satire to the Russian Revolution. The oldest, wisest pig on the farm, Old Major, has a dream of a rebellion against the humans. He tells the idea to his fellow comrades and starts an uprise with the animals. Once Old Major died, the animals became tired of the farmerRead MoreWays of Viewing Animal Farm: Historical Allegory, Fable, and Suspension of Disbelief752 Words à |à 4 PagesAnimal farm tells the story of a group of animals rebelling successfully against the previous owner, Mr Jones, who was considered to be a tyrant of animal/manor farm. The farm was planned to be communist place but because of most of the animals gullibility and unintelligence the pigs who where smarter took control and made a hierarchy and exploited the animals. Then eventually the pigs became more like humans doing things like walking on two legs and wearing cloths. However would animal farm be
Monday, May 11, 2020
Role Of Decisions In The Stranger Book - Free Essay Example
Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 590 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/08/16 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: The Stranger Essay Did you like this example? Making decisions is a process we do everyday but everyone makes different decisions. Some people make decisions that can lead you to good places in your life and other people make decisions that can be bad and lead you to bad places in your life. Whether you choose not to focus on your education, you decide not to listen to your parents, or even choosing the people you hang out with is an important decision to make that can come with different types of outcomes. Donââ¬â¢t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Role Of Decisions In The Stranger Book" essay for you Create order In the book The Stranger Meursault experiences how making bad decisions can affect your life for the worse. Just like meursault Everyone makes decisions in their life some are smaller decisions and some are bigger. Making decisions can change your life and how the outcome of it is. In the book The stranger meursaults mother dies and he really doesnt feel sad about it making people think bad about him. Meursault meets raymond one of his neighbors when he hears screaming from his neighbors apartment. He goes to see what is going on and finds out he is physically abusing a woman. Meursault makes a bad decision by agreeing to become his friend because the person he meets is influencing him to do bad things. Raymond tells meursault to lie about what happened if anybody asks him about it. There are small bad decisions throughout the book that put weight on meursault. One of the major wrong decisions he makes is when he killed a person at the beach without any discernible motive. This happened when he and the friend he had made went to the beach for a vacation. They were walking by the beach and a group of arabian men came up to them and hurt meursaults friend. Meursaults friend had also said that he didnt like them. Choosing Raymond to be his friend caused meursault to be involved in this situation. When albert killed the man he didnt know why he killed him. After he shot the man once he shot at him four more times not having a reason to do it. Meursault has chosen to do all these things because at the beginning he doesnt take time to make choices he just does stuff at the moment. Before he shot the man he said It was then that I realized that you could either shoot or not shoot(camus).Before he shot the man he realized that he could choose to do something or not to do it. Most of his life meursault did things without thinking how it would affect him or other people. In conclusion the author demonstrates through Meursaults life how decisions can affect your life. He made many bad decisions that caused bad outcomes. Meursault would do things at the moment without thinking about it or thinking of a different solution. Meursault experienced a change. Before shooting the arab guy meursault saw that he had the choice whether to shoot or not to shoot. Even though meursault made a bad decision that lead to a punishment of death he realized that he had a choice. Works Cited Carter, Ron. The Stranger by Albert Camus. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Literature, 2017. EBSCOhost, www.statelib.lib.in.us/inspire/authenticate-eds.asp?url=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26AuthType%3dcookie%2cgeo%2curl%2cip%26geocustid%3ds8475741%26db%3ders%26AN%3d87575438%26site%3deds-live%26scope%3dsite. Shmoop Editorial Team. Marie Cardona in The Stranger. Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 17 Dec. 2018. Camus, Albert. The Stranger. CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2015.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Weibo And Chinese Society Free Essays
string(77) " explain every action they take until the askers receive a satisfied answer\." The new media, different from television, magazines, books or paper-based publications, is a new form of mass communication, which contains technologies that enable digital interactivity. For example, websites, video games, Internet all belong to the new media. Currently, the new media is becoming increasingly popular and sharply changing peopleââ¬â¢s life. We will write a custom essay sample on Weibo And Chinese Society or any similar topic only for you Order Now The advent of Webb in China is one of the most prominent examples, which is also the topic I am going to analyze in this passage. Chinese Webb, similar to twitter used worldwide, is a micro blob, by which people can post words, pictures and videos on the Internet. The general public or the organization can create their own account easily and share things with their followers so they can communicate freely with each other. Some celebrities and government officials also own Webb accounts and in this way, Webb helps to create a two-way communication between famous people and Chinese Internet users. Research showed that people spend at least one hour per day checking Webb messages on their cellophanes or on their laptops, while spend only fifteen minutes on reading newspapers. It is very common in current Chinese society to see people using Webb every day to check the latest news, share daily life, or chat with friends, etc. Nearly fifty percent of the Internet users in China have Webb accounts and use it regularly. Among these people, most of them are from the younger generation who are more open-minded to the new technology. This paper consists of two parts. The first part aims to understand the effects Webb has made ten years from now on Chinese society. The second part talks about Chinese government policy and the progress China has made reflected by the proliferation of Webb. Speaking of the impact of this new media, Webb has impressively changed the traditional mass media. Prior to the turn of the century, only journalists with an official degree can be reporters and public news, which they thought were newsworthy. However, in nowadays, with the advent bowie, the general public can be the first one to reveal something important happened around them by posting Webb using only forty Chinese characters. Sometimes these posts can be the sources of the news on next days newspaper. For example, on March 2013 a man robbed a store and fell down on his way running. This accident was firstly recorded by a citizen who happened to pass by in that neighborhood. Then he quickly posted this on Webb and called the police. Immediately, this post was reposted thousand times and known to many people in this city. Later on, the newspaper bought the pictures taken by the Webb user and published as the next days headline news. In this way, the general public is helping professional journalists find newsworthy things happened around them and change the traditional humdrum way of publishing. In addition, the extensive use of Webb is acting like a supplement of paper- erosion reports. Every famous news agency has their own Webb accounts, whenever there was an influential news, there would be a short post to give people a brief Introduction of what happened. Also, Webb can be a place where the journalists post updates in a continuous event. For example, when the missing airplane MYNAH accident happened this year, every progress the rescue group had made was posted through Webb. While we were waiting anxiously for the latest news-if there were survivors, how was their family numbers, where was the plane, what caused this crash, etc. Overall news agencies post the latest contents immediately when there were new discoveries. The general public simply need to refresh their Webb to look for the latest news, which makes it more convenient and quickly. The advent of Webb also has tremendous impact on the daily life of the general public. Firstly, Webb users can follow official accounts based on their interests-what kind of news they care about most, which celebrities they esteem and want to know more about. For instance, a person likes sports might follow soccer players and other sports news related accounts. A person cares about health eight become a fan of Chinese Healthy Diet on Webb. In this way, the Webb users can conveniently receive information specifically what they want to know by using the Internet. Moreover, by reposting these webs, Webb users can share the interested news with other followers and show the support for the original Webb user. Besides that, Webb users can also follow private accounts, which consist of oneââ¬â¢s family members, friends and co-workers. Even if people cannot meet each other every day, they can still keep in touch and let others know what happened in their life by posting Webb. In the current society, Webb is a good immunization tool to help promote the interaction between people who are busy working or studying every day and cannot meet each other because they live far away. My own example can best illustrate this point. Study abroad, which means I can only meet my family members and friends once a year. But regularly post on Webb about what I have learned, what I have done, how I feel, etc. My friends can like or comment on my posts so we would not feel so far from my life in a remote country. The use of the micro blob also provoked great repercussion on the whole society, especially on the political field. Since a two-way communication teen government officials and the general public was built up based on the proliferation of Webb. Almost every civic servant in China has their Webb account and is required to post their weekly work publicly. If Internet users have problems with the policy or officialsââ¬â¢ behaviors, they can comment under the post or send a private letter through Webb. It is the government officialsââ¬â¢ duty to reply in time to the citizens and explain every action they take until the askers receive a satisfied answer. You read "Weibo And Chinese Society" in category "Papers" Making sure that the general public has a clear understanding of what the government is doing is a task for government officials through their communication on Webb. It is also common for people to show their support to certain policy or government officials through the use of Webb. Due to the impressive influence it has on the whole society, once a post was sent by a civic servant or a department in the government, it would be repost at once by thousands Of Internet users who advocate this proposal. Therefore, with the power Of the Webb users, it is easy to distinguish if an action or policy by the government is welcomed to the public in society. On the other hand, Webb can dramatically help to supervise the political yester and other charitable organizations. Before the proliferation of Webb, it is relatively hard for the public to directly oversee the behaviors of the authorities and social groups. This kind of supervision is mostly achieved by the specialized department set up to keep an on the behaviors of the government officials. However, nowadays, people can freely post anything they discovered in their daily life and keep an eye on the celebrities what they have posted through Webb. The Webb users also supervise the misbehaver Of government officials in political field and urged he related department to investigate. Two examples happened in 201 1 and 2012 Chinese society can best help to explain this point. In 2011 a Webb user with the account number Mime Guy posted several micro blobs about her Mistreat and big houses. And her title was the manager of the Chinese Red Cross, which was revealed in her Webb profile. This made the Webb users pretty confused: where did all her money come from? How can she afford such luxury? With more and more people paying attention to this young girl with such unusual background, the Red Cross was forced to response to this issue. Although that this organization clarified it had no connection with Mime Guy, the public do not think that is the real truth. Also, the Public Security Bureau began to investigate the relationship between Mime Guy and the Red Cross. Specially, they suspect this so-called manager had improper relationship with the chairman of the board, so she could have access to the money people donated to the Red Cross and used it for big houses and Mistreat. Later after the Mime Guy affair, the Red Cross was mistrust by the public for a long time and was required by the relevant department to reveal its edged to the society and become completely transparent. Another case happened in 201 2 was triggered by one picture taken by a Webb user in a car accident scene. The post on Webb showed that in this kind of occasion, the government official was smiling instead of grieving for the hurt people, which made the general public angry. Afterwards, this official was severely criticized by the people on Webb. People even found out all his other pictures taken in different occasions to see if he was eligible to be a civic servant. Eventually, people found that in many pictures, he wore efferent costly watches, which were not accordance with his income earned from his job. With more and more people doubted the sources of the money, relevant department began to investigate in this case. They found out that a large amount of the money of his fortune was from corruption. This official used the convenience of his position to make money for a long time so he had money to afford expensive watches and big houses. As a result, this official was ââ¬Å"sent ââ¬Å"by the Webb users into prison. Of course, the spread of Webb is a two-edged sword , which means it can also exert negative effects on society. For instance, there is a group of people who open Webb accounts only to sell products, which makes the Internet environment full of commercials. It is difficult to regulate these commercials because it is hard to tell if the product is of good quality based on the limited information Webb posts can provide. Also, the freedom people possess when they use Webb makes the online environment increasingly complex. Diverse people holding totally different opinions can equally and freely express on Webb. On rare cases, immoral people purposely release fake news to the public in order to tarnish othersââ¬â¢ reputation or cause a society panic. The general public might get confused based on the complicated information they receive. There was once a water company being framed by a piece of news in Beijing Daily. It reported that the water from Ongoing Company was not clean and could not achieve the water standard in China. Later on, this news was posted by several Webb users without testing its accuracy. Along with the spread of this breaking news all over the Webb environment, this company got stuck in trust crisis and had a significant decline In monthly sales. Thousands of Internet users showed their anger and disappointment to this water company ND the news Was reposted in a large scale. However, when Ongoing Company went to test its water in the Quality Supervision Bureau, the result showed Ongoing water was clean and had achieved the water standard. It turned out the news was distorted and afterwards misused by the Webb users. This example showed that it is equally easy for both the truth and fake news spread out through Webb and the latter would absolutely damage the social order to some degree. The spread of Webb and its effects can be the introduction of the second part of this paper, which explains the Chinese society progress and the overspent policy. Because of the significant impact Webb exerts on Chinese society, the government has taken specific measures to regulate the Webb environment. Moreover, the policies, being increasingly flexible and allowing for more freedom, can reflect the Chinese progress in recent ten years. Fifty years ago, Chinese people were not used to freely speak in the public at all, nor were they allowed to criticize the government officials and the policy. In my father generation, people who dared speak out the actual evaluation of one policy might even end up being caught into prison because they were considered ooh aggressive. Almost every thing they said or did was under the guidance of the government. People did not have a way to express their thoughts, not to mention giving advice to the government. Obedience blindly might be the best words to describe the people living in that period. However, in the new era, with more rights are given to the general public, people are changing their mind accordingly. They begin to say something in public instead of stubbornly listening to the authority. Webb is an excellent tool to help achieve this transformation within this background. With the advent of Webb, people are having a channel to easily express themselves. They can set up an account and apply their personal design to the home page. They can post words and pictures. These Webb contents do not limit to their daily life about what they have done and how they feel which are mainly shared with their friends and family members. Webb users can also use the micro blob to comment on recent events happened in China and in the international scale. For example, after the plane crash MYNAH, many Webb users criticized the inappropriate behaviors of the Malaysia government and airplanes. Another example would be the lawsuit in 201 1. The driver, whose father is Gang Lie-a government official, was interrogated in court because he triggered a car accident, which caused one people dead and one people severely injured. Hundreds of Webb users posted on Internet their complaints because they thought the court was treating this criminal inequity due to his special social Status. This case reflects a big progress which not only means the government is giving more freedom to people, but also means people are more willing to discuss the current affair and becoming the masters of their own country. Still, I cannot deny that there are restrictions on Webb use. Offensive words and pornographic contents are definitely not allowed to exit on Webb. Besides, the regulation on political field is relatively strict compared to the policies used to regulate the Internet in other countries. However, even if there are certain amount of restrictions on the contents people can post, it is too a large degree progressive compared to before. The limitations are primarily in political area, especially when the reputation and safety of central government were threatened by aggressive speech on AIBO. If happened, the relevant accounts might be suspended and the posts would be deleted as soon as being found. Moreover, this Webb user might even be arrested if the post had caused a severely negative effect within the whole society. This is a comparatively strict punishment compared to the policies made on pornographic or fake news. To the latter one, the account might still be used. Only the specific vibe contains pornographic or violence contents would be deleted by the administrator. The policies in sensitive period in China, (for example, when minorities groups ere trying to split China) are harsh compared to that in normal times. The government is controlling Webb environment to stop the rumors, which aim to cause social panic. During that special period, Internet users even cannot post webs including sensitive words such as ââ¬Å"split of Chinaâ⬠ââ¬Å"The independence of Tibetâ⬠or the names of the sensitive characters in the political fight. All in all, Chinese society is making progress in the new millennium, not only in terms of economics, but also in political and cultural area. The policy and laws enacted by the government guarantee freedom and democracy to the public. Chinese peopleââ¬â¢s minds are opening to the world and becoming more autonomous accordingly. They use Webb to share their life, enjoy the rights they are accorded to help master the country. It is not possible for the social organization or government to block a piece of news they do not want the public to know any more. With the extensive use of Webb, all the information around them and directly affect them would spread quickly and has a significant effect within the whole society. People have already stepped into a new era with the extensive use of Webb and the old days will never come back. How to cite Weibo And Chinese Society, Papers
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Turkey, Media and Human Rights
Introduction The study focuses on the freedom of the press in Turkey. Turkey is supposed to be one of the more liberal Muslim countries but events of the past few months on media crackdown do not reflect that.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Turkey, Media and Human Rights specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Some of the issues this study explores relate to how the government recently shut down social media sites, namely Twitter and YouTube before the elections. The research also covers media censorship and highlights any laws related to the freedom of the press in Turkey. Today, the media industry in Turkey faces challenges related to press freedom, including indirect or direct government censorship, imprisonment of journalists, and laws that would allow prosecutions of journalists that criticize the governments. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Turkey has the highest number of im prisoned journalists in the world (more than China and Iran). At the same time, a judicial package was adopted in 2012, which addressed these challenges but they were not strong enough to allow and protect full press freedom. Evidence from available studies indicates that Turkeyââ¬â¢s press freedom has been deteriorating over the years and has dropped in the ranking of organizations such as Reporters Without Borders by fifty places. Other organizations such as Freedom House have categorized Turkey as partly free and the 2012 European Commission Progress Report for Turkey (EU membership annual report) categorized press freedom as one of their main concerns. In addition, research shows that 68 percent of the imprisoned journalistââ¬â¢s cases were related to the Kurdish Issue. Many of the journalists were charged under laws that were unrelated to media and the press like anti-terror laws and organized crime laws. There are also issues of court-ordered suspension of online sites a nd conflicts of interest due to media ownership.Advertising Looking for research paper on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Possible Cause of the Increased Media Crackdown in Turkey In the year 2010, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Human Rights Investigation Commission issued a report on its outcomes concerning the allegation that some of the news reports by Turkish Media had violated the presumption of innocence (Ãâ¡ataklar). The outcomes of this Commission were devastating to the Turkish Media. For instance, it criticized the media and their reporting methods. The Commission accused the media of striving to be the first power rather than the fourth power. This was a source of concern for the Turkish government and society. The report noted that media continuously reported ââ¬Å"fabricated news, violation of the right to respect for private life and the infringement of the presumption of innocen ceâ⬠(Ãâ¡ataklar). According the report, ââ¬Å"press freedom, freedom of opinion and expression and presumption of innocence should be exercised within the articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, Turkish Supreme Court decisions and judgments of the European Court of Human Rightsâ⬠. In this regard, the Commission summed up their concerns and suggested possible solutions to these problems. In its recommendations, the Commission claimed that it included ââ¬Å"opinions of the media members and academicsâ⬠. The content of this report could have sparked the outrageous government crackdown on the media and journalists. Some of the Common Challenges to Journalists in Turkey According to Freedom House, Turkeyââ¬â¢s civil liberties rating has deteriorated from three to four. This has resulted from the ongoing pretrial detention of many people, including ââ¬Å"Kurdish activists, journalists, union leaders, students, and military officers with charges that appear to be politically motivatedâ⬠. This new rating suggests that Turkey is not only dangerous to journalists alone, but also other groups of citizens too. Many publications, including an article by The Economist have highlighted that Turkey remains the most dangerous country for journalists (A dangerous place to be a journalist 1) because many journalists facing charges have covered news that the government considers sensitive and dangerous to national security. For example, some journalists have covered issues related to police complicity in the murder of Hrant Dink, a journalist and the influence of the Gulenists within the security forces (A dangerous place to be a journalist).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Turkey, Media and Human Rights specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The most important point one should consider is the impact of detention of journalists on journalism, press freedom and f ree speech and expression. This is a step backward in the gains made in the media freedom and human rights. Turkish media are under pressure to be subservient and deferential to interests of the government yet no media should play such a role. Thus, the case of Turkish media highlights vulnerability of journalists. In any society, journalists have the right to gather information and deliver the same to the public. These are core roles and principles, which guide journalism and its integrity as a profession. Many organizations and the US have expressed their concerns about the state of media freedom in Turkey. In addition, Turks have also protested against the governmentââ¬â¢s actions. At the same time, several reports by various organizations with different mandates have documented the state of media freedom in Turkey. They have noted that the major challenges relate to ââ¬Å"government interference in media affairs, the structure of the media sector, firing or harassment of col umnists, growing practice of self-censorship, and prosecution, detention and imprisonment of journalists over criminal and terrorism-related chargesâ⬠(Onur). In addition, there are some other issues related to hate speech and the use of defamatory terms. Government Interference One major obstacle that many journalists and the media industry encounter in Turkey is the escalating cases related to ââ¬Å"the governmentââ¬â¢s interference in media-related affairsâ⬠. In most cases, the Prime Minister and the ruling party, Justice and Development Party (AKP) have lashed out at differentâ⬠journalists, columnists and newspapers because of their decisive position on critical affairs in the countryâ⬠. The Turkish government has used different but direct techniques to restrict media freedom in the country. For instance, the government has publicly criticized and condemned journalists and columnists. They have asked the public to boycott newspapers and only buy them fro m pro-government media houses. In some instances, the government has forced many senior editors to eliminate some investigative pieces from their dailies or Web sites and exert pressure on media owners to dismiss some news commentators or columnists (Onur).Advertising Looking for research paper on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Turkish government has claimed that negative media coverage of the government could have unprecedented, unwanted consequences for the economy because such news portrays the government in a negative manner and destroys the image of the ruling party. Self-censorship Various actions of the government have forced journalists and columnists into a state of self-censorship. At the same time, journalists also face direct pressure from the government. Therefore, one may notice that many prominent columnists and journalists in Turkey were fired or had their contracts terminated. Most journalists affected were mainly fierce critics of the government. The government has also resorted to filing libel lawsuits against some of the journalists. Yeni Akit is a pro-government newspaper. However, recent coverage of significant events by the media has led to serious concerns in the country and globally. For instance, the daily has accused other parties of financing terrorists while it has increasi ngly published hate speech and targeted ââ¬Å"Jews, Christians, Greeks, Armenians, Kurds, Alevis, the LGBT community and the governmentââ¬â¢s criticsâ⬠(Onur). The current state of the media market in Turkey has ââ¬Å"encouraged the government interference in the industryâ⬠. The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) has noted that more than ââ¬Å"80 percent of the market is under the control of two pro-government media housesâ⬠. Onur claims that the inadequacy of the legal framework and regulations to support media cross-merger has hindered transparency in the industry. In addition, the law restricts participation in tender processes and diversified investments. Consequently, the media industry has become highly polarized and structured. In this context, media owners have sacrificed public interests of receiving news because of business interests as they assist ââ¬Å"the government in strengthening political power and fighting criticsâ⬠. T herefore, the Turkish media cannot act as a watchdog for the public. Prosecution, Imprisonment and Human Rights of Journalists Perhaps the most outrageous aspects of the governmentââ¬â¢s attempts to restrict press freedom in Turkey are by arresting, detaining and prosecuting journalists (Franklin). Many reports have noted that Turkey remains the most dangerous country for journalists. Currently, more than 100 journalists have been arrested and detained. A significant number of these journalists face charges related to being a part of terrorist groups, using propaganda to support terrorism or directly offering supports to terrorists (Bilefsky and Arsu). Many journalists have faced charges under specific, similar offenses. For instance, most cases relate to the infamous Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Case and the Ergenekon Case (Onur). The government has been able to exploit legal loopholes to carry out mass prosecution of journalists. The Anti-Terror Law and the Turkish Crimina l Code have provided such opportunities. In addition, several other journalists face trials for different offenses. A report by the Organization for Security Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) has shown that one journalist had 150 different Court cases. The high number of journalists in prisons has negatively affected the media industry in Turkey. While Turkey has made significant reforms since the year 2000, serious challenges have persisted with regard to the freedom of speech and press freedom. The tendency of the Turkish government to interfere with press freedom has attracted the international attention, specifically when social media were blocked in the country. This is an alarming situation to journalists and media owners, including online media platforms. Both the government and media owners have focused on business and undermined the role of the media in a democratic society. In addition, the use of laws on terrorism and legal loopholes in the constitution has forced journalist s to practice self-censorship. Turkey had focused on building a democratic state that would lead others in the Gulf region and the Muslim community. However, the country may not be able to realize this vision because of its poor records on press freedom and freedom of expression and opinions. Turkey, therefore, has contradicted its objective of promoting press freedom and building a stable democracy. Turkeyââ¬â¢s Social Media Crackdown Human rights advocates in Turkey have a cause for concern ever since the government declared its strong stance against its critics, journalists and columnists (Eissenstat). According to Eissenstat of Amnesty International USA, in the past months, there has been ââ¬Å"a sharp decline in human rights conditions in Turkeyâ⬠. The author argued that the situation could only escalate toward the presidential election to be conducted in August. This has been the case since the country banned YouTube and Twitter sites. The governmentââ¬â¢s decision to censor the Internet resulted into widespread public protest in the country (Pierini and Mayr). The Internet has revolutionized information sharing. As a result, the Turkish authority has attempted to find various ways of regulating the Internet by focusing on religious, cultural and social issues. Onur has cited the OSCE report, which noted that, ââ¬Å"Turkey provides the broadest legal measures for blocking access to Web sites by specifying eleven different content-related crimes, but does not reveal the number of Web sites blockedâ⬠(Onur). According to the Freedom Houseââ¬â¢s ranking, Turkeyââ¬â¢s Internet is partly free while the European Commission refers to the censorship as disproportionate. At the same time, other prominent bodies have listed the ban as matters of concern. Reporters Without Borders had listed Turkey as an enemy of the Internet in its 2012 report. One must not dismiss the role of the Internet, Web contents and social media in providing informa tion to the public. Citizens understand the relevance and importance of news Web sites. Consumption of news on the online platforms has increased steadily with the increase in Internet accessibility through mobile devices. Many Turks, therefore, rely on the Internet to receive news updates. Online news has become an alternative to many people. Therefore, the governmentââ¬â¢s decision to shut down Twitter and YouTube in Turkey was impairment to the media industry with impacts on press freedom and freedom of opinion and expression. The Human Rights Watch has raised concerns that even after the Court order to restore Twitter access in Turkey, the social media platform has remained shut down (Human Rights Watch). Turkeyââ¬â¢s Telecommunications Authority (TIB) blocked Twitter after a Court ruling on certain contents. While the Court ordered the Telecommunications Communication Directorate to unblock the account, the agency is yet to comply with the Court ruling. This highlights im punity and disregard for the rule of law and press freedom. While users have relied on proxy sites to receive YouTube and Twitter contents, all these other proxy sites have also been blocked. As a result, many international bodies, including the UN have criticized Turkey for stifling press freedom (Human Rights Watch). The government has strived to look for new ways of empowering the Telecommunications Directorate to block social media sites and target specific contents as happened in February 2014. There were such previous attempts on Google sites in the year 2012 in which the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of the company. The Court claimed that blocking such sites violated the right to freedom of expression. Only a single post from an individual led the Turkish Court to order the blockage of Google sites, but the European Court of Human Rights established that Turkey lacked an effective and adequate legal framework to monitor social media platforms. The government o f Turkey has failed to honor such rulings from the European Court of Human Rights. Instead, the country has concentrated on introducing new ways of restricting access to news Web sites. A rights discourse, communication rights, human rights and media The Organization for Security Co-Operation in Europe has clearly stated that by blocking access to social media platforms, Turkey deliberately disregards the fundamental right to freedom of expression and freedom of the media (Organization for Security Co-Operation in Europe). This is a violation of human rights. Any regulator that blocks media and inhibits the free flow of news and press freedom on both online and offline platforms also breaches several OSCE standards and international conventions it has sworn to protect. In addition, Amnesty International has reported that the government has started to arrest human rights lawyers with 15 of them currently in detention (Amnesty International). According to the Committee to Protect Jo urnalists (CPJ), certain Turkeyââ¬â¢s pro-government media have released disturbing reports with false claims against it (Committee to Protect Journalists). On this regard, CPJ has realized that the Turkish government has embarked on a strategy of attacking its fierce critics rather than addressing issues of press freedom, communication rights and human rights. The fundamental sources of concerns are ââ¬Å"communication rights and freedom of opinion and expression and human rightsâ⬠. On this note, CPJ has written a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoßan, which details its ââ¬Å"profound concerns about Turkeyââ¬â¢s anti-press policies, including the jailing of journalists, the censorship of social media, and adoption of restrictive legislationâ⬠(Committee to Protect Journalists). CPJ noted in its latest prison census that Turkey had held 40 journalists in prison. This number made Turkey to be the worldââ¬â¢s leading country with the highest number of j ournalists in prison. It has also attracted widespread condemnation of the government (Burch). However, the government released nearly half of the journalists and the number reduced to 21. Iran and China also have a significant number of journalists behind bars (Committee to Protect Journalists). Most observers have claimed that Turkeyââ¬â¢s crackdown on the media, journalists and press freedom had reached a point of crisis because it has the highest number of jailed journalists and restrictive media laws. The Turkish government has embarked on constant introduction of new laws, legal prosecution, widespread intimidation of columnists, media owners and columnists and broad offensive to stifle meaningful journalism and communication rights in the country. According to CPJ report, there are certain articles in the penal code, which give ââ¬Å"authorities wide berth to use journalistsââ¬â¢ professional work to link them to banned political movements or alleged plotsâ⬠(Comm ittee to Protect Journalists). On the same note, Greenslade has noted that the government uses some articles frequently to ââ¬Å"criminalize basic newsgathering activities, such as talking to security officials or obtaining documentsâ⬠(Greenslade). In most cases, Turkey has related ââ¬Å"journalism with terrorismâ⬠. This is an accepted practice in a democratic state and therefore it undermines the fight against terrorism and the countryââ¬â¢s security issues. Most rights discourses have called upon the Prime Minister to stop attacks on the press and instead concentrate on developing a fair process for the detained journalists (Global Network Initiative). At the same time, he should pursue reforms to ensure press freedom and freedom of opinion and expression. Given the flawed nature of laws of communication in Turkey, Reporters Without Borders has noted that the Turkish judicial system often conducts political case analyses rather legal and judicial ones (Reporters Wi thout Borders). For example, if journalists present critical views on the Kurdish issue, ââ¬Å"prosecutors and judges tend to conclude that they therefore share the views of the Kurdistan Workers Party and must be guilty of membership of this armed separatist organizationâ⬠(Reporters Without Borders). Consequently, several organizations have urged the Turkish judicial system to respect the international conventions in which Turkey is a party. Such conventions clearly define freedom of expression, which may only be restricted in cases of hate messages or violence, but this is not the case in Turkey. On the same note, OSCE and the Council of Europe have asked Turkey to stop relying on jail as a means of restricting press freedom. Today, many organizations and advocates have called for the release of jailed journalists in Turkey. Specifically, these bodies have focused on journalists who have been jailed because of their newsgathering roles. It is imperative for the government t o address press freedom and allow journalists to do their duties. This process, however, requires inputs from all stakeholders so that they can find and implement long-lasting solutions. Human rights activists such as Zafer ÃÅ"skà ¼l have asserted that any obstacles that prevent the public from gaining access to news are clear human rights violations (Bozkurt). Press freedom allows the public to access news and any attempts to challenge such rights indicate serious problems. On this note, Bozkurt noted that political leaders have the responsibility of defending and protecting free media. Media Policy and Press Freedom After the economic crisis of 2001, Turkey embarked on media freedom reforms, which included media ownership restructuring (Kurban and Sà ¶zeri 52). The crisis affected many media companies that had invested in the financial sector too. As a result, the need to secure business tenders led to ââ¬Å"social manipulation to voluntary censorship in the whole sectorâ⬠(Kurban and Sà ¶zeri 52). As a result, todayââ¬â¢s media industry in Turkey is grappling with pressure from ââ¬Å"the government and its agencies, as well as challenges from its own capital structures and poor ideological choicesâ⬠(Kurban and Sà ¶zeri 52). The situation has become unbearable because these changes have affected democratic processes in Turkey negatively. Moreover, press freedom, freedom of expression and media laws are foreign to the country. This implies that Turkish government and its agencies may not be conversant with effective media policies, which require inclusion and transparency in a democratic state (Ziomek 67; Plaisance 187). Turkey should create democratic, independent media. The media can then act as civilian supervisors on bureaucratic and politic processes and ensure protection of public interests. This process, however, requires significant changes in the legal framework of Turkey and media training (Young 38). At the same time, there sho uld be changes in the media ownership structure and implement laws that facilitate competition in the industry. Media Ethics in Turkey The development in the global information society provides an imperative opportunity of enhancing equal and sustainable development in media ethics, specifically in countries with poor press freedom and human rights. In this context, Jorgensen has observed that the revolution in information and communication technology should focus on ways in which the information society can either advance human rights around the world or threaten them (Jorgensen 34). In the case of Turkey, one can only observe how social media platforms have threatened human rights. A report by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Human Rights Investigation Commission 2010 established serious allegations against the Turkish media. For instance, there were cases of ââ¬Å"fabricated news, violation of the right to respect for private life and the infringement of the presumption of innocenceâ⬠(Ãâ¡ataklar). At the same time, Kurban and Sà ¶zeri found that the ââ¬Å"tabloidization of news and violations of professional rules of ethics through inconsistent and even fictitious news in the Turkish media were the outcomes of ââ¬Ëthe industryââ¬â¢s fierce competition in the rating warâ⬠(52). These findings from various studies and investigations show that the Turkish media industry lacks professionalism and media ethics. The industry operates in a highly polarized environment occasioned by political divisions that have affected various media and journalistsââ¬â¢ groups. These challenges have prevented any meaningful collaboration and efforts to promote self-regulation. While Turkey has the Press Council to oversee media operations, its independence and inputs in the industry remain highly contested. Media owners are a member of the Council, but they have claimed that state interference and differences in ideologies have affected its operatio ns. As a result, the Press Council represents few media owners and lacks a significant support from the media community. The Press Council of Turkey can no longer provide fair representation for media owners because it has remained controversial just like its current leadership. Social media and technologies have provided new opportunities for Turks to gain access to ââ¬Å"alternative news information beyond what the traditional mainstream media could offerâ⬠(Kurban and Sà ¶zeri 52). The Independent Communication Network is a body established in 1997 and strives to monitor the media and ensure freedom and independent journalism in the country. The Network has strived to establish professionalism in journalism in Turkey. It provides training, publishes books and organizes media conferences, forums and other exchange programs. This organization receives funds from various European agencies to promote media ethics in Turkey. Online media channels have however presented new form s of challenges to journalism and media ethics. For instance, there are cases of ââ¬Å"copy-pasteââ¬â¢ news from the mainstream media outlets or other new agenciesâ⬠(Kurban and Sà ¶zeri 52). The Turkish government has attempted to introduce some draconian laws to control online media. For instance, it intended to introduce new regulations for online media and provide specific identification cards to online journalists (Kurban and Sà ¶zeri 52). This approach has raised serious press freedom issues in a country that is aggressive toward journalists. In a response to this move, the Alternative Informatics Association launched ââ¬Å"the Internet needs freedom, not press cardsââ¬â¢ campaign to criticize the governmentââ¬â¢s initiative as an attempt of censorship and control of the mediaâ⬠(Kurban and Sà ¶zeri 52). In a quick turn of events, the Turkish government has referred to social media as platforms for crimes, violence, chaos and disorder (Human Rights Obse rvers). In most case, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has often accused social media of causing unrest and branding Twitter as a ââ¬Ëtroublemakerââ¬â¢, and accusing the online messaging service of spreading ââ¬Ëliesââ¬â¢. Further, he insisted that the Internet inflames the riots and defames government officials, which are both real and virtual crimes irrespective of the medium (Human Rights Observers). Such statements show that Turkey does not have any real legal framework for handling irresponsible journalism and relies on authoritative Press Laws to ban social media. In addition, the government is reluctant to formulate laws that will regulate online media channels. The press freedom crisis in Turkey from moral and ethical points of view One may look at the press freedom crisis in Turkey from moral and ethical points of view in order to identify differences. It is imperative to recognize that no form of governments irrespective of their leadership styles sh ould operate in secrecy. Individuals value their personal privacy and confidentiality. Nevertheless, journalists disclose information due to public interests, which is imperative for their integrity and professionalism. Only vigorous inquiry and transparency can provide liberty and democracy that many countries pursue, but the Turkish governmentââ¬â¢s approach to press freedom has created media crisis that raises moral and ethical concerns. The main role of journalism is to provide the public with the information they need to be free and self-governing. Information is power and journalism helps to distribute this power to the people. Perhaps this role has elicited fear in the Turkish government because ââ¬Å"shared power is safer and more beneficial to society than concentrated powerâ⬠(Ethics, Morals and Journalism). The role of journalism, therefore, is beneficial to society and powerful too, but requires ethical decision-making (Fawley). As noted earlier, journalists in Turkey have shown disregard for media ethics. They have abused their power by publishing fabricated news and failed to use their freedom responsibly to provide the truth to citizens. They are unable to balance responsibility and freedom and therefore lack ââ¬Å"personal sense of ethics and responsibilityââ¬âa moral compassâ⬠(Principles of Journalism). Moral growth emanates from community practices, but not conflict while ethics originates from individual choices and decisions and therefore, individuals can learn to be ethical (Ethics, Morals and Journalism). Societal morals originate from cultural practices, which form laws and means of control. Therefore, ethics and morals lead to a comparison between individuals and society. For journalists, common sense accounts in journalism as Glasser and Ettema (512) had noted. In this sense, journalists must be able to differentiate between right and wrong practices (Glasser and Ettema 515 ââ¬â 516). Assistant Secretary for Pub lic Affairs, Douglas Frantz has claimed that what Turkish government is doing to the media can be found in a Turkish proverb, which is ââ¬Å"you donââ¬â¢t burn the sheep to kill one fleaâ⬠(Frantz). The US government has raised concerns that Turkey is among many countries that have tried to shut the Internet despite reforms it gained since the year 2001. While Frantz recognizes that the number of jailed journalism has declined, still there is a need for freedom of expression and press freedom. He asserts that journalism is not a crime and the government should not confuse journalism with criminal activities. Specifically, the social media have raised concerns. The Turkish government has tried to ban the social media. Banning social media is a blunt approach, which ââ¬Å"punishes the technology not the individuals who are misusing the technologyâ⬠(Frantz). Hence, one can draw the difference between moral (society) and ethics (individual) based on the Turkish media cri sis. Elaine Scarry highlights these philosophical perspectives by showing that it is difficult for individuals to notice pain in others and therefore avoid aggravating the same pain (Scarry 39). Scarry has focused on violence and cruelty toward foreigners and this reflects actions of Turkish government on journalists. It shows that the Turkish government sees journalists as foreigners who are interfering with state affairs. The government has not fully understood media principles or recognized journalists. As a result, it can inflict pain on journalists through imprisonment and detention. If the government understood the principles of journalism, then it would not be able to ban social media and imprison journalists. In this regard, violence and cruelty against media houses and columnists result from the failure to recognize these entities and individuals as real. Scarry notes that ââ¬Å"the best solution to the problem of cruelty to strangers combines spontaneous imagining with le gal equality and enfranchisementâ⬠(Scarry 53). Therefore, political equality should facilitate social equality, press freedom and freedom of expression. Under such conditions, variations do not reflect inequality. The Turkish government aims to ensure conformity by stifling the media. Scarry notes that political equality encourages toleration, and ââ¬Å"to tolerate others is to make room for them in oneââ¬â¢s imaginingâ⬠(p. 55). Constitutional and legal framework changes in Turkey should improve imagination of citizens and press freedom and freedom of opinion to allow citizens to maintain social unity and solidarity. Nevertheless, Scarry points out that any changes in legal frameworks and structures cannot guarantee that strangers will receive ââ¬Å"a full measure of attention and adequate imaginingâ⬠(Scarry 40-62). In other words, these instruments cannot guarantee safety of journalists yet laws aim to provide standards for fair treatment for citizens and hold them accountable. Hence, structures of laws may fail but a structure of sentiment can achieve much (Scarry 58). Sentiments come from individuals and define ethics. Margalit notes that ethics should define individual ties with whom they have special relations with while morality should reflect societal obligations to humanity (147). From Margalitââ¬â¢s perspective, past events are critical and should help individuals to remember specific people whereas the community should have such collective memories. In this regard, it would be imperative to understand how Turks would remember the government that banned social media, jailed journalists and restricted press freedom and abused human rights. Turks have the obligation to remember their government because it has abused people, undermined human rights and morality altogether. Such memories should be used to alienate citizens from past cruel memories and reconcile them rather than seek for revenge (Margalit 149). Summary of the Findi ngs, Conclusion and Recommendations Summary of the Findings Turkeyââ¬â¢s attempts to restrict press freedom and freedom of expression and opinion have negative impacts on the state. At the same time, they do not help in the fight against terror. The Turkish government, therefore, must take initiatives and improve its record on Press Laws and human rights. Government interference with media affairs is rampant and serious. Perhaps the most serious case involves imprisonment of journalists under flimsy charges, including accusation of being a member of terrorism groups. Social media crackdown in Turkey is an attack on the entire technology industry. Instead, the government should concentrate on specific elements that it believes are responsible for chaos and disorder. Media owners and journalists in Turkey lack media ethics. They fabricate news and violate privacy and confidentiality. The focus on politics and business has led to poor ethics in journalism. By highlighting moral and ethics, one can draw a clear distinction between moral and ethical community. The Turkish government has treated journalists as foreigners and criminals. Conclusion The research has established that Turkeyââ¬â¢s strategies and efforts to restrict press freedom have resulted in poor rating for the country and therefore, the government must take corrective measures. Many institutions have released several reports, which show that press freedom, freedom of opinion and human rights are deteriorating in Turkey because of the arrested journalists. The governmentââ¬â¢s attempts to convince the public and the world have failed though the number of jailed journalists has declined. The concepts of press freedom, human rights and freedom of expression seem foreign to Turkey. It is not clear how the Turkish government intends to handle the issue of media crisis and improve the current situation because all its approaches have resulted in negative outcomes. The fight against terror should not lead to media restriction. A reliable judicial process should help the government to identify terror suspects among the arrested journalists. This process, however, requires judicial reforms because the current system has failed to achieve reliable outcomes. The government must allow civil societies, academics and media owners to participate in such reform processes. In addition, the Turkish government should accept external assistance to facilitate the required reforms. Turkey needs all these stakeholders to help it to create a stable democracy and promote peace within its borders. Such reforms will improve Turkeyââ¬â¢s ranking among the international community and promote its image and influence. At the same time, the media industry and journalists also should embark on reforms and training to understand media ethics. Currently, there are serious ethical and moral concerns among Turkish journalists because they are engaged in fabricating news. Common sense should guide jour nalists to decide on right or wrong practices and present the truth to the public. This is the fundamental role of the media in any country. Recommendations Press freedom is essential for a democratic society. Nevertheless, press freedom is not unlimited and therefore, journalists must use common sense and observe freedom and responsibility. This calls for moral and ethics in journalism. The presumption of innocence is fundamental right in the Turkish constitution. It is imperative for media owners, the government and the judicial system to cooperate on determining issues of ethical concerns. The legal framework and the Court system require reforms so that the judiciary should not treat journalistsââ¬â¢ cases as political ones. Information should be shared within the law. Media owners must consider changes in capital and ownership structures in the entire Turkish media industry. The current model is business driven and has created monopoly in the media industry. Moreover, the ind ustry has become pro-government. The media industry should not serve the interests of the government. Instead, it should represent all stakeholders in society. Judges and prosecutors need training on media and public relations. Likewise, journalists too require training programs on coverage of legal affairs. Turkey must formulate laws for the Internet and social media immediately. The government should desist from authoritative approaches when dealing with social media. So far, its actions have been detrimental and abusive. It is imperative to remember that media laws are almost similar irrespective of the platform used. Works Cited ââ¬Å"A dangerous place to be a journalist.â⬠The Economist. 10 Mar. 2011. Web. http://www.economist.com/node/18333123. Amnesty International. ââ¬Å"Turkey: Anti-terror arrests target prominent human rights lawyers.â⬠18 Jan. 2013. Web. http://www.amnesty.org/en/for- media/press-releases/turkey-anti-terror-arrests-target-prominent-human-right s- lawyers-2013-01-18. 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Washington, DC: Aspen Institute, 2005. Print This research paper on Turkey, Media and Human Rights was written and submitted by user Enzo O. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.
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