Australian Media, Society, and Politics - Assignment Example

Australia Media, Society and Politics Name: Institution: Question One: What is meant by Internet Cultures and why has it proved to be so difficult to regulate the internet There exist various definition of the term internet culture with the most common one been the culture that arises from the increased use and advancement of technology in the daily lives of almost all individuals around the globe. Various sources say that the term was coined in the 20th century by Al Gore but it did not have a wide recognition, it was until recently that the term gained extensive notoriety in relation to popular culture and academic world with the surfacing, and the eventual recognition of the various social sites such as facebook, twitter as well myspace.com (Livingstone, 2005). The internet is qualitatively dissimilar with the broadcast media. It seems to be a global community and it is by now that is more complex, larger, interdependent and more diverse than all the Australian cities combined as well as a conversational intermediate. Over time it has proved difficult to regulate the internet and mostly in Australia and the regulators face a number of problems in instances when they want to converge and regulate the content in the internet. The government of Australia have not yet imposed any form of censorship or regulations on the other kinds of conversational media for example the telephones and pubs due to the understandable technological and social obstacles that that kind of censorship would have to encounter: this is are the same kind of challenges aligning to regulation with the regimes (Finnemann, 2007). One of the major reasons why it is difficult to regulate the internet is based on the fact that most information that can be accessed in Australia originates from foreign sites. This makes it impossible for them to control the content by the use of the Australian laws. The other reason why it is difficult to regulate information that is in the internet is based on the fact that information is broadcasted on the internet at an extreme speed. It don’t seen unusual for an article that have been posted to be copied in almost every part of the world and be read by a wide range of people within a matter of hours since its origination. In regard to this reason no complaints entity can be expected to act with sufficient speed in the aim of preventing the global dissemination of all unclassified materials that is originating from Australian sites (Thomas & Loader, 2000). Another reason is related to the authentication standards that are applied in the internet. The authentication standards seem to poor. It seems very easy for an internet user to impersonate another individual. Though unswerving voluntary certification ought to be achieved, there exist no technology that can enforce compulsory certification on the internet (Satola, 2007). The other reason is related to the fact that local users of the internet cannot in any way controlled from employing anonymity and encryption services devoid of causing severe marketable losses to Australia. The availability of these services removes the possibility of definitely determining accountability for the offensive material. Legislation to confine the privileges of Australians in the employment of strong and valid cryptography cannot be effective against criminals, but on the other side it would criminalize commercial electronic safety and personal privacy in most electronic media (Argyle & Shields, 1996). Question two: Sexting and its legislation in Australia Sexting is commonly termed as an act of sharing, creating, sending of sexually explicit images or messages through mobile phones, internet or through other electronic devices to various groups of people and mostly to young children that are not allowed to view it (Parliament of Victoria 2012). Sexting is gradually becoming an issue of great concern in Australia, and most precisely among the minors with almost 20 % of them having engaged and participated in it (AASA 2012). Much of the debate about sexting and the laws are more related to criminal law and precisely to child pornography offences. In other instances, sexting may also be affected by some civil laws such as privacy, defamation, nuisance, surveillance and the copyright laws. The legal implications of sexting can be adamant and severe (Findlaw Australia, n.d). Existing legislation states that children who engage in sexting may face child pornography accusations and might still be positioned on the list of sex offenders. Young people are not aware of the laws that are governing sexting and at the same time they do not appreciate the legal implications that they can face if they are caught in the act. Though a lot of debate encircles the suitability of the sexting regulations there exist no laws in Australia which are specific to sexting, thus it tend to function in overlapping matrix of laws (Forde, 2011) that are closely related to the issue but do not address it sufficiently. Sexting may at times be regulated by state, criminal, civil as well as federal laws and the punishment offered may be severe. The video on Megan’s story have attracted a lot of criticism form various groups of people. With the major one been on the teaching and lesson that it teaches to the young children who may accidentally view the video. The video is also readily available in the internet thus making it easily accessible to younger children. With most critics been more concerned with the message been passed along. From the criticism is evident that gender and sexual violence is a prominent aspect in the modern day society and it is mostly related to the girls, thus making them to feel inferior (Megan story, n.d). Thus young children ought to be taught on the importance of privacy of information and they also need to be taught of the severity if one reveals personally information since when a message it sent it reaches a large group of people within a very short duration of time. Question three: Media effect research The notion that media effects research is often viewed as a popular culture and as being responsible for the passivising of its audiences is true in certain circumstances. One of the major ways that it does so is through is based on the fact that by exposure to the media tend o change an individual beliefs or behavior. Various media effects research presumes that the more an individual watch the greater the effect it will have on him or her (Repetto & Repetto, 2010). A number of research shows that there exist such a correlation though not a consistent one between the kind of video and movies that one watches and his behavior. Based on this it is very difficult to view that an individual is aggressive if he rarely watches aggressive movies but at times other factors may be at play. The other way is related to the fact that those individual who are used to watching violent games are more likely to be aggressive as compared o their counterparts who may not be watching the games. Thus based on the kind of items that one watches they really determines the kind of behavior of that individual in the long rum thus it would be best for one to refrain from watching violent and aggressive programs so as to ensure that his/her behavior is at the best at all times. Television programming can be able to challenge such assumptions in a number of ways for example a program can be programmed in such a way that it tries at all times to impact positively on the individual. Thus one will not be in any way to able to view the violent and the aggressive programs that are available in the media. Another way that televisions programming will assist in that they at most times broadcasts programs that are not harmful for example some may broadcast comedies as well as dramas at specific time of the day. Based on the consistency it will be very difficult for the viewers of the media to be made passivising audiences since they will be following some specific programs at various times of the day when they are free. Another aspect is related to the fact that at times they are offered in a familiar content and environment thus making it easy for the audiences to listen and follow what is been broadcasted. This eventually leads to audience not been made passivising audiences. Question four: Investigative journalism in crisis Investigative justice seems to be in crisis and not only in Australia but in almost all parts of the world. The main reasons behind is due to digital media. A lot of discussion about the crisis in investigative journalism based on the effects of the digital media. To some level the digital media seems to be just a part of the crisis in the traditional journalism. The proliferation of new internet based medium such as online newspaper, blogs, and the ease at which the reproduction has resulted to the decline in revenues with the sales and ads, showed the continued long term decline in buying of papers thus in one way implying a little amount of money as well as investment related to investigative journalism (Ullmann, 1995). A number of organizations such a wiki leaks view themselves as been the most appropriate alternative in the provision of high quality public service journalism. Despite these they are faced a number of ethical and legal challenges. One of the major challenges is related to how the information is really obtained. Based on the response of various governments the information and data released seemed to be genuine but the main question lied on how the information was obtained (Leigh & Harding, 2011). In most instance unlawful means are usually applied in the aim of obtaining the data and thus while some people argue that it could be legally and ethical wrong to obtain that kind of data with unlawful means others are of the opinion that it is right since even though unlawful means were used those who were doing wrong are made accountable of their actions (Keller, 2011). Another ethical and legal challenge is related to how there can be verification on whether the material obtained is genuine. This seems to be a major challenge is knowing whether the material that is been circulated is genuine and whether to contain the correct information (Quinn, 2000). The other challenge that is posed by this kind of media is based on the possible harm that can be attributed to the publication. The publication tends to reach a large group of people around the world within a very short duration of time. Thus it just takes a couple of hours for the information to be known all over the world (Adsera, Boix & Payne, 2003). Thus the ethical and legal issue here is related to the possible harm that can be attributed to the publication. Question five: Free press Free press is termed as freedom of expression as well as communication through the use of the various vehicles that are available such as in published articles and in electronic media. This freedom regularly entails the lack of the boundary from an outwitting state; its safeguarding may be sought after through legal protections and constitutional protections (Brunetti & Weder, 2003). The idea that free press is the fourth estate is mainly attributed to the fact that the function of the media is mainly seen as been a guardian of almost all the public interests as well as a watchdog on all the activities that are carried out or undertaken by the government. Thus depending on an individual examination of the media, it is either a self serving rationalization or at the same times a vital aspect of the balances as well as checks that are part of the modern democracy. One of the major challenges to the enhancement of free press is the limitations if characters that can be written and in most instances even the spaces are counted as characters. This has in one way tried to hinder the freedom of free press (Chowdhury, 2004). The other kind of challenge is more related to the trying as much as possible to be independent of the democratizing technologies. Most precisely the internet ought to be protected from a new kind of authority that could possibly monitor as well as influence the internet global flows despite the high sounding rationale. The other challenge is to exploit fully the potential that have been Presented by the new media in the market without compromising the core right of freedom of speech and expression. This seems to be a difficult task for most journalists since some tend to lie greatly on one side (Sussman, 2001). The same rules and standards can be applied to both a new and traditional media. Therefore the flow of ideas for example in form of images or with word is major prerequisite for both economic and social development. The last challenge is more related with how the principled commitments can be easily turned into practical realities. At the core of every issue is the aspect of universality that is the creation of inclusively knowledge societies in which all individuals are provided with the opportunity to take part regardless of their frontiers (Fell, 2005). Communication seems to be an essential concept in the fundamental social process, a major building block in the social organization a core component in the social process. Thus everyone ought to be offered with the opportunity to participate and no one ought to be excluded from the benefits (Ukpabi, 2001). References AASA (2012). Sexting. Retrieved October 16, 2012 from http://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=3390 Adsera, A., Boix, C. & Payne. M. (2003). ‘Are you being served? Political accountability and governmental performance.’ Journal of Law, Economics and Organization Argyle, K. & Shields, R (1996). Is there a Body in the Net? In R.Shields (ed.), Cultures of Internet: Virtual Spaces, Real Histories, Living Bodies, Sage Publications. Brunetti, A. & Weder B. (2003). ‘A free press is bad news for corruption.’ Journal of Public Economics, 87, 1801-1824. Chowdhury, S. (2004). ‘The effect of democracy and press freedom on corruption: an empirical test.’ Economics Letters 85 (1), 93-101. Fell. D. (2005). ‘Political and media liberalization and political corruption in Taiwan.’ China Quarterly, 184, 875-893. Findlaw Australia. (n.d). Sexting and the Law in Australia. Retrieved October 16, 2012 from http://www.findlaw.com.au/articles/4240/sexting-and-the-law-in-australia.aspx Finnemann, N. (2007). Public Spaces – New Landscapes, Limits and Interfaces. Paper presented at the Workshop for Nordic Doctoral Students in Media and Communication: “New Media, New Theories, New Methods”. Forde, D. & Hardley, V. (2011). Sexting: the legal implications. Retrieved October, 16, 2012 from http://cornwalls.com.au/sharing-knowledge/legal-updates/sexting-the-legal-implications.aspx Keller, B. (2011, Jan 30). Dealing With Assange and the WikiLeaks Secrets, N.Y. TIMES MAG. Leigh, D. & Harding, L. (2011). WikiLeaks: Strained relations, accusations – and crucial revelations, THE GUARDIAN, Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/31/wikileaks-embassy-cables-publication. Livingstone, S. (2005). ’Critical Debates in Internet Studies: Reflections on an Emerging Field’, in J. Curran & M. Gurevitch (eds.) Mass Media and Society (4th ed., pp. 9-28) London: Hodder Arnold Megan story (n.d). Megan story. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwKgg35YbC4 Parliament of Victoria. (2011). Inquiry into sexting. Retrieved October 16, 2012 from http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lawreform/article/947 Quinn, S. (2000). ‘L’ Plates on the information highway: Computer-assisted investigative reporting (CAR) in Australia. Equid Novi, 21(1), pp 120-133. Repetto, T. & Repetto, T (2010). ‘Crime prevention and the displacement phenomenon’ Crime and Delinquency 166–177. Satola, D. (2007). ‘Legal Aspects of Internet Governance Reform. Information Policy’ The International Journal of Government & Democracy in the Information Age. Sussman, L (2001). Press Freedom in Our Genes. Reston, VA: World Press Freedom Committee. Thomas, D. & Loader, B. (2000). Cyber crime: Law Enforcement, Security and Surveillance in the Information Age, London: Routledge. Ukpabi, C. (2001). Handbook on Journalism Ethics. MISA, NIZA & Chudi Communication Consult. Ullmann, J. (1995). Investigative Reporting Advanced Methods and Techniques. New York: St Martin’s. Read More