The Importance Of The Press Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Importance of the PressThe newspaper is a powerful medium. It is powerful because it has theability to influence the way that people collect the world, as well as theiropinion of what they see. In peaceful times (or in times of oppression, forsometimes they can appear to be happening at the same moment) the press isusually one of the instruments used by the state in order to maintain the statusquo. However, during times of political unrest it is a great deal the press whobecomes the major antagonist in the fight against the government.Why is this so? Why does the press get so deeply involved in, not scantilythe reporting of, but the instigating and propagating of political change? Inorder to properly answer this question there be several other key ideas andquestions which must(prenominal) premier(prenominal) be examined. To understand the nature of the pressinvolvement in political change, one must initially understand the nature ofpolitical change in its own right. In thi s vein, the first section of the paperis dedicated to this investigation. An examination of the motives behindrevolution exit be given in order to exit a framework for the second part ofthe paper, which will look at the involvement of the press during revolutionarytimes in more specific terms. The French revolution of 1789 will be used as abackdrop for this inquiry.There are many different types of political movements, and accordinglythere are many different reasons for these movements to occur. Value-orientedand norm-oriented movements deal with matters of social and political concern,but do so in the setting of the already existing political and social structures. rotatory movements seek to make fundamental changes to society in order toestablish a completely new political and social order.1 The distinction beingthat the first aims to make subtle changes to society from within, while thelatters aim is to make drastic changes to society by getting rid of theprinciples that societ y was based on.Usually this will involve a change in political beliefs and values, orpolitical ideology. In todays world there are numerous forms of politicalideologies, but in essence they are all derived from two basic root ideologiessocialism and liberalism. Socialism is an ideology w... ... Prelude to Power, The Parisian radical Press 1789-1791,Maryland the Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976The diverge of the Enlightenment on the French revolution, edited by William F.Church, Canada D.C. Heath and Company, 1974Darton, Robert and Daniel Roche, Revolution in Print The Press in France 1775-1800, USA New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox & Tilden Foundations, 1989Guy, throng John, People, Politics & Government, Toronto Maxwell MacmillanCanada Inc., 1990.Osler, Andrew. News, The Evolution of Journalism in Canada. Missisauga CoppClark Pitman Ltd., 1993.Popkin, Jeremy D. Revolutionary News, The Press in France 1789-1799. USA DukeUniversity Press, 1990.Footnotes 1James John Guy, Peo ple, Politics and Government, (Toronto, 1990),p. 103. 2 Ibid., p. 81 3 Gustave Le Bon, The Psychology of revolution, (USA,1968), pp. 162-3 4Ibid., p. 28. 5Andrew M. Osler, News, The Evolution ofJournalism in Canada, (Canada, 1993), p. 54. 6Jeremy D. Popkin, RevolutionaryNews The Press in France, 1789-1799, (USA, 1990), pp. 19-20. 7Ibid., p. 22-3.8Ibid., p.25. 9Ibid., p. 26. 10Ibid., p.28. 11Ibid., p. 2. 12Ibid., p. 3.13Ibid., p. 3. 14Osler, p. 54.t