Volume 10, No 1, 2013
Freedom of information and abuse of media in the process of globalization
Milan Palevic and Srdjan Djordjevic
Abstract
Freedom of speech is considered to be one of the basic human rights and is included as an indisputable in all major international conventions and national laws. Due to the role they play in informing the public and creating public opinion, mass media and journalists are often said to be the 'fourth power' in the society. Indeed, the media have increased their capacity in material, technical and personnel agenda, so that today they can independently, or, in alliance with a broader factor of political power, participate in creating a milieu of intolerance and violence between certain groups, but also promote tolerance and anti-discrimination as the basic values of a well-regulated society and preconditions for the personal development of each individual in that society. The intention of the authors of this paper is to present certain retrograde trends, objectively identified in the media of a modern global society, and to discuss their social and political generators, as well as to initiate the question of possible professional, moral and other kinds of responsibilities of those who resort to such behavior within the profession of journalism.
Pages: 1-8
Keywords: Freedom of expression; Freedom of speech; Media; Globalization