Does the public really have full power of Freedom of Press?
Freedom of Press, the right that guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, refers to gather, publish, and distribute information and ideas without government restriction which encompasses freedom from prior restraints on publication and freedom from Censorship (Legal dictionary, n. d.). Media act as the fourth Estate, which have the right to constrict and balance the government officers and affect the sentiment by reporting the truth of the society and revealing any of social injustice. To protect the Freedom of Press, United Nations also set up rules in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers" It also states that it not only refers to the professionals, but also the public.
However, is the Freedom of Press really exists in no limit? I beg to differ. In this essay, illustrations will be given to express why the public do not have full power of the right of Freedom of Press in the aspects of the government censorship, the exists of law and also the exists of Editor, so as to let the public know how far they can go for the Freedom of Press and use the power in a better way.
Without a doubt, under the rise of social media, everyone can act as the journalism to post the news whatever they want. The proliferations of electronic devices with video recording capability imply that many images of current incidents come from the public and bystanders. Follow that is the appear of the social network, such as Facebook, twitter, Weibo, WeChat, which...