|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources |
|
|
|
Introduction: The News Media: Rights, Responsibilities, and Remedies
| Article
# : |
13956 |
|
|
Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
|
| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1988 |
544 Words |
| Author
: |
Editor
|
The increasingly influential role of the news media in American society and its effects on the political process in this country are coming under renewed scrutiny. In this special report, THE WORLD & I examines the responsibilities of the news media and how well they are fulfilling them.
John Silber, president of Boston University, notes that "the media have now become the chief educators of the American people; they must therefore assume the duties and responsibilities of educators as well as those of journalists and entertainers." As educators, they play a critical role in shaping the reasoning ability and opinions of the people, which in turn affects our survival as a free people.
Elizabeth R. Rindskopf, general counsel of the National Security Agency, assesses the media's role in protecting national security, particularly with regard to leaks that may unintentionally reveal intelligence information. She suggests ways in which the media can "participate in full and open debate of policy issues without harming our nation's vital--yet fragile--foreign intelligence assets." One of her proposals is that the media develop a code of conduct to address their responsibilities in handling classified information and the problems it poses.
Ernest L. Lefever, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of Ethics and United States Foreign Policy, notes: "Through our history, there has been an inevitable, and to some extent desirable, tension between the need for secrecy by the government and the demands for disclosure by the press." A recent study he did, however, showed that media coverage of the CIA is highly one-sided, stressing
... (2000 of 3480 Characters)
Read Full Article
|
|
