BwareDWare94 723 Posted March 17, 2015 (edited) We've all seen it--the individual whose reputation and sometimes even his or her life is ruined because Freedom of the Press seems to have lost all boundaries in this country. In many cases, point blank defamation occurs before charges are even filed against an individual, and yet our reporters hide behind this idea that seems to be open to interpretation more than it is actual law. They also like to throw out there that "the citizens deserve to know" or "I'm just doing my job!"At what point has it gone too far? At what point do we ask our legislators to clearly define defamation and/or to make some changes regarding what the press can and can't report at any given time? Obviously, as sports fans, we see this happen to athletes all the time. It's hard to know who is and isn't guilty without video footage (something else that SHOULD NOT be available to the public. Releasing the Ray Rice video should have come with hefty, hefty fines) or a flat out confession. Anyway, I think the reach of American press has gone far past a reasonable point, and honestly hope that laws eventually get put in place to help prevent defamation, because it's not supposed to happen in the first damn place. This is something I've been thinking about lately. Just thought I'd throw it out there. Edited March 17, 2015 by BwareDWare94 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blotsfan 2,112 Posted March 17, 2015 Nope. What you're suggesting is what dictatorships do. The releasing of the Ray Rice video is the press at its best. Journalism should be trying to prove people with power are covering things up. 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparty 110 Posted March 17, 2015 Nope. What you're suggesting is what dictatorships do. The releasing of the Ray Rice video is the press at its best. Journalism should be trying to prove people with power are covering things up. 100% Agree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RazorStar 4,025 Posted March 17, 2015 I think the question is, to what extent should the press infringe on one's privacy? If someone is doing something wrong, the press is almost obligated to discover what that person is covering up. Is the sacrifice of "innocent until proven guilty" worth the cause of rooting out corruption. Why now with all these tools to completely invade our privacy, should these tools not be used for the greater good? That's... a hard question to answer. My personal belief has always been very simple, people deserve to have freedom in all things so long as their freedom does not impose on another life. If someone is ruining someone's personal freedom, then turnabout is fair play. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cherry 1,302 Posted March 17, 2015 It depends on what you're viewing in media. Should media outlets be allowed to report on legitimate problems and such that are at risk of not being revealed to the public otherwise? Yes. Should papparazzi be allowed to stalk famous people just to piss them off and draw a story out of them when there is none? No. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blotsfan 2,112 Posted March 17, 2015 You guys know libel is illegal right? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Favre4Ever+ 4,476 Posted March 17, 2015 I think the question is, to what extent should the press infringe on one's privacy? If someone is doing something wrong, the press is almost obligated to discover what that person is covering up. Is the sacrifice of "innocent until proven guilty" worth the cause of rooting out corruption. Why now with all these tools to completely invade our privacy, should these tools not be used for the greater good? That's... a hard question to answer. My personal belief has always been very simple, people deserve to have freedom in all things so long as their freedom does not impose on another life. If someone is ruining someone's personal freedom, then turnabout is fair play. Bingo. Nothing else needs to be said, really. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oochymp 2,393 Posted March 19, 2015 You guys know libel is illegal right? true, but the standard is really high for a libel claim against the press, you generally have to show that the press either knew what they were reporting was false or acted with malicious disregard for the truth Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blotsfan 2,112 Posted March 19, 2015 Only if you're a public figure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oochymp 2,393 Posted March 19, 2015 Only if you're a public figure. true, but public figure is defined incredibly broadly, to the point where you could argue merely being the subject of a major news story makes someone a public figure, and odds are it's not going to be an issue for the average person Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BwareDWare94 723 Posted March 20, 2015 So you people think that things such as rape allegations or child pornography should be known to the public even before charges are filed?I don't. You can't rebuild your reputation from those kinds of things. It just doesn't happen. There need to be boundaries of some sort. Our press is given so much leeway it's offensive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) Its not that I don't agree that the press tends to immediately jump to conclusions and report on issues way too soon, given our "get me the news as fast as possible even if it may not yet be accurate" way of doing things. The issue is there is no practical solution to stopping this without suppressing the freedom of the press as a whole- and a free press is the beating heart of a democracy. Without it, you can kiss a true democracy goodbye, (not mob rule, before someone brings that dead horse out). Hell, I'd argue the press has already affected it drastically because newspeople are incapable of separating their bias from their reporting and so we get news channels like Fox that always jumps on conservative causes and politics without truly background checking and channels like CNN and MSNBC that do the same thing for liberal causes and politics. Edited March 20, 2015 by Thanatos19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
