MCOM 4003 - Michael Forte

  Freedom of speech as well as access to uncensored information are rights that American citizens have access to that can occasionally be taken for granted. In many countries, citizens are not permitted nearly as many rights, freedoms, or even privileges' that many Americans enjoy every day. One country that functions almost as America's polar opposite regarding the freedom of speech as well as protections against media censorship would be China. China is one country that is well know for actively stifling civilian access to information as well as enacting strict censorship on media and foreign information. The country has become so strict with censorship as to reach the bottom five of one hundred and seventy nine ranked countries in press freedoms according to the ranking on  RSF Reporters Without Borders   . Recently, one of China's most forthright daily newspapers was disbanded following the conclusion of its work with an enormous tech company named Tencent says t...

One of the many pitfalls of journalism that journalists must be wary of his misinformation. Although misinformation can at times be attributed to honest mistakes, the term is occasionally used interchangeably with disinformation which seems to denote a much more malevolent form of misleading people. One form of altered information that humans have been using for decades upon decades in the modern era is propaganda. Propaganda can often twist the truth or manipulate public perception in the pursuit of making individuals believe a certain way. Russia, relatively recently, initiated a war with Ukraine in which Russia invaded Ukraine‘s land to occupy it with no justifiable reason. Although the invasion began in Russia’s favor their advantage has began to stagnate as much of the territory they originally took from Ukraine has been won back. After a year of invasion with their progress diminishing Russia is utilizing tactics that are aimed at passing false information off as fact. Russian is...

 Often times greedy or narcistic individuals will jump at the opportunity to claim some measure of self benefit through the exploitation of any means these individuals or groups have access to. News stories are no different, and if the circumstances behind the news story align favorably with particular groups ability to take advantage of the story, then that organization will likely seek to use the new story in twisted ways to advance their own agendas. Recently, a devastating event has taken place in China where a young woman named Zheng Linghua was relentlessly cyberbullied online to such an extent that it prompted her to take her own life. Zheng Linghua was 24 when she passed away after the brutally harsh words from strangers on the internet took their toll on Zheng Linghua after dying her hair pink and claiming she desired to become a piano teacher as she grew up. She went on to post a picture of her tending to her elderly grandfather when he was in the hospital while in the pi...