No lesson summary is required for this lesson. Please work on the required question using the tool chosen by your group and post your work as a comment to this post. You are required to do two things:
(a) Write down the ideas generated by the tool chosen by your group.
(b) Based on the ideas generated, write down 3 points that will address the question. These points should be written in the exact phrasing as they would be if you wrote them in your essay.
The deadline to complete this task is 29 Jan Wed.
The slides for today's lesson can be found here.
*Joshua Leong, Nicholas Tan and Matthew Phong*
ReplyDeletea) Ideas:
From the perspective of the general public:
The media should be free in the sense that we should be able to have access to almost everything (Other than the fact that we have to pay for access to some things)
From the government/companies in general:
There should not be total freedom when sharing media.
b) Points:
The media should be completely free. In the modern society, in order to build trust and rapport with the public, it would be wise to make everything transparent so as to reassure them that these companies or the government isn't doing anything obscure. History has shown time and time again through examples such as Stalin and Hitler who manipulated media in a successful attempt to boost their publicity and popularity and they do so by misusing media to show inaccurate or totally wrong data and information to the general masses. As compared to when media would be granted complete freedom, everything would be transparent to the people and they would be able to do something without being blindly manipulated.
The media should not be completely free. There should still be a sense of censorship in them as not everything should be shown to the general public as some articles may be sensitive or illegal. This is one measure in order to safe-guard the nation whereby not everyone has access to things which one may use against the state, namely confidential articles from the Ministry of Defence and such. Thus bringing us back to the point where if media were completely free(free from censorship and such), people who were not meant to see particular information would be able to and might use it against the nation which it was meant to protect.
Under "Ideas", do note that the question is asking you if media sources such as the newspapers, social media, TV and radio should be unrestricted and allowed to do anything they like. Whether you have access to them or not is a separate issue and has nothing to do with the question.
DeleteUnder "Points", please note the following:
(a) Having balance in your essay does not mean having one point for and one point against. That is being contradictory. Balance simply means having taken into consideration opposing viewpoints. You can either refute opposing views after considering them, or accept them and adjust your stand.
Points should really be dealing with the reasons why the media should or should not be completely free. Your second point is fine. It gives a reason - that some things may be sensitive or illegal. But your first point has no clear reason.
Group 5: Qianhui, Jamie, Theodor, Matthew
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Should the media be completely free?
1. Ideas using SPECTRAM:
Society - People in the society would appreciate that the media is completely free so that they would know what is happening behind the scenes in their country.
Technology - With the latest technology, media should be not completely free as people might abuse the benefits given to them.
Media - The media should be free and accessible anywhere.
2. Points:
The media should be completely free so that all the behind the scenes work in Singapore, for example, government policies, would be seen by the public and the government can also gain support from the people by making media completely free. Further more, it would let the citizens of Singapore get information easily if media is completely free.
The media should be completely free so that people are able to pass out information in a more efficient manner, so that the country will be a more fast-paced one. With a free media, people can use it for educational purposes, using technology to conduct lessons in classrooms and it will also allow students to refer to online materials freely.
With the latest technology, media should be not completely free as people might start to abuse their access to free media. People might also make use of the free media to spread their religious views, which might be harmful to a certain extent. Free media might also be used for illegal activities like illegal downloading of protected content, music and movies.
1. Ideas
DeleteIdeas on Society and Technology fine. The one on Media doesn't say anything.
2. Points
Society idea not properly translated into a point. The question did not ask specifically about Singapore. So there is no reason to zoom in on Singapore. Your original idea of the importance of a free media so that the public knows exactly what is happening is good enough. You should then focus on finding evidence for that. Don't keep claiming other things like claiming how it will help the government gain trust. It's a separate issue and should be proven separately.
The same comment pretty much holds for your third point. Focusing on the spreading of extremist views (not religious as it is not negative enough) is good enough. Your illegal downloading point doesn't address the question at all.
For your second point, it is not clear how education can be affected by whether the media is free. Please see my comments for the other group on the definition of media.
Mavis, Shawn Kit, Ruoyu, Carven
ReplyDeleteAdvantages :
People
Disadvantages:
Easily manipulated and misguided sources of information (eg. propaganda usage)
Non-verifiable
Problem:
The media is a highly versatile platform for information, as it is accessible, up-to-date and strictly maintained. However, there have been cases whereby the media was utilized as a form of propaganda or to spread false information to the readers. This compromises the authenticity of the information presented by the media, confusing and manipulating the target audience. However, should the media become a completely free platform, the chances of this occurring would increase significantly, along with a greater build-up of confusion as different sources relates different point of views on an issue.
Solution:
Allow the media to be an independent body within the society, however, having representative from different organizations or communities (eg. governmental, ethnic groups, citizens) to verify the information before publishing. Inter-state co-operation adds a greater degree of accuracy and counterbalances the opinions stated by the media company, thus providing more reliable news. The media should still be a controlled platform, but having members of the public analyze the information before publishing would lower the chances of defects.
Impact (Free Media Platform):
- Bad and negative influence on children as they are growing up
- People will be receiving more in-depth news from various sources
- Information will become harder to verify it’s authenticity
Outcome (Free Media Platform)
- People will have a greater say in terms of interpreting world events
- Information will come from a personal point of view
- General confusion will occur due to the conflicting points of view
- Information and news will be updated at a faster rate
Point 1:
The media should not be completely free for the public or governmental bodies to alter as they please. The reason for it’s greater use and support is due to it’s authenticity and verifiability. People trust the media to convey accurate and unbiased information to it’s general readers, without taking a one-sided view to an event. However, should the general public or government have free reign over the media, it would result in highly differentiated and conflicting information being posted. The general public would have different point of views due to cultural, racial or social differences, whereas the government might take advantage of the media to spread false and loaded information as a form of mass propaganda. Thus, the media should remain under control by a single, trustable sect to manage the influx of various information and to sieve out the facts behind the judgements.
Point 2 : The media should not be completely free for the public as it results in bad and negative influence in children as they are growing up. With the media being unrestricted, adult themes like sex, violence and drugs will be free to air in any forms of media. In the technologically advanced world the society is in now, young children will be easily expose to all of these adult themes. Wrong impressions about these adult themes will be formed like they will and they may even pick up these bad habits in the future. They are unprotected from the explicit content and their mental development will be affected negatively. The media should not be completely free to protect the children from going astray and grow up having a distorted mindset about the world.
Point 3: The media should be free for the public as the public has rights to know what is going on around their government and so as to ensure that our government is transparent and whatever the government is doing can be seen by the public. It would also be easier to circulate information and it is also easier for the public. Media can also be used for educational purposes, providing information online that is helpful for our education system.