"We the Media" Chapter 10
There are lawyers who are First Amendment Specialists? I never knew that; it's almost sad that we need people to specialize in defending our freedom of speech. Then again, it's sad there are yellow journalists who bring about the need for First Amendment Specialists as well. Quite a pickle, isn't it? I don't think it will ever change, no matter how many books are published on the subject.
I don't understand why libel has become such a huge issue. Don't people know not to spread incorrect information in a public forum? Then again, in all reality, isn't it the same as telling somebody privately? That person can spread the information as well, and could even misinterpret what the original tidbit was.
I guess libel is specifiaclly PRINTED b.s. though- pardon my crudeness.
Maybe I'm just horribly idealistic, but I just don't understand why we all can't get along. I understand people have personal vendettas or things like that, but let's be mature here people. I know this little rant isn't going to change the world but I do think that maturity plays a big part. It takes a much bigger person to keep quiet than it does to spread nasty things, even if they ARE true.
Ack! Will it ever change?
I know I personally would never publish ANYTHING ANYWHERE that I didn't know was 100% true. That's hard to come by, the truth, but wouldn't the extra time it took to find the truth in the long run pay off? If everything published was truthful, well, I wouldn't have a reason to be complaining now would I?
You said there are people out there who seriously arim to harm- you're absolutely right. I do think people do things like that to sometimes attract attention or to cause drama, that's what some people live for I think. Again, it's all about maturity. I guess some people never grow up!
I understand completely what you mean about libel being such a big problem. There really do seem to be people out there who seriously aim to do harm, but I think that in a lot of cases, it's probably just someone misquoting another person. I can see where that would be an issue, because no one wants to be associated with something that wasn't what they said--especially if it's harmful to yet ANOTHER person!