Eight Vales of Free Expression

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."
― John F. Kennedy

I found the lecture on the Eight Values of Free Expression especially interesting. Because you can apply it to so many past and modern-day political and societal events domestically and internationally, the value that particularly resonated with me is The Marketplace of Ideas.

The marketplace of ideas is the value that all opinions should be able to be shared. This idea is beneficial because that means that even the bad ideas must be shared, thus bringing out the truth. The bad ideas will make the good ideas stronger. People have the right to voice their opinion and not be silenced by the government; it is not up to the government to decide which view is better or worse. It is up to the people. 

United States Citizens must advocate for their right to be heard. In our ever-increasing digital age, the prevalence of censorship can often be overlooked by the general public. Allowing the free flow of ideas from all outlooks is beneficial to every party to ensure comprehensive understanding and let everyone's voice be heard. This can help prevent the herd mentality plaguing our country with single-stream misinformation. If this type of censorship continues, the distrust civilians have in the United States government will only strengthen. This censorship was alarmingly apparent when media outlets began to investigate and report on the Hunter Biden scandals that were censored and covered up by Twitter in late 2022. 

As Elon Musk took over Twitter, making striking corporation-wide shifts almost immediately upon taking control of the company. One of Musk's most controversial actions was releasing Twitter files on political events that the corporation had otherwise covered up. Twitter released information on Hunter Biden to the public at this time. On December 2nd, 2022, Titter shared internal documents with Matt Taibbi, showing glaring violations of the first amendment. These documents had information about the Democratic National Convention working directly with Twitter to delete and censor accounts and posts that shared negative information about the Biden campaign. These records included instructions from the DNC on what needed to be removed from Twitter. 

This information that was released also contained information about Hunter Biden's laptop. It highlighted the Biden family's scheme with China and Ukraine that ultimately made the family millions of dollars. It has also been revealed that there were members of congress involved with the censorship scandals. This is in complete violation of the Bill of Rights, because no government official can rig the election or censor information from the public. Had this information not been censored, it could have dramatically altered the results of the 2020 Presidential Election. This is just one case of the government partnering with private companies to block information from the general public. It is alarmingly prevalent with the topics of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict as well. It is our right as American citizens to allow free flowing ideas; thus allowing the people to decide which view is correct, without interference from the government. 

The Supreme Court

After watching the video assignment about The Supreme Court, I learned how pivotal tis branch of government is to the operations of our country. The checks and balance process that our government undergoes would not be possible without The Supreme Court. It ensures adequate balance of power amongst the three branches of government. 

The biggest thing that I learned from this video is that it is the most power judicial body on earth. I learned a lot about the Dred Scott Missouri case. I had heard about it before, but not in the detail that this video offered. He claimed freedom over act of Congress, and was later known as the country's "Great self-inflicted wound". The constitution was later amended to protect individuals over the excess of state power. 

The last topic in the video that particularly resonated with me was when they started to talk about the inner  workings of the Supreme Court. I had not learned much about it previously so I was interested to hear about what the video had to say. I was especially intrigued about the process of petitions and the sheer volume that they receive. I thought it was notable that they said that every petition gets the same individual consideration, no matter who it was from. It was also interesting that they said only about 100 petitions a year get re-reviewed by the Supreme Court, and that it has to be more than just one of the parties not liking the state level ruling, there has to be a bigger issue. 

Overall, this video did a good job highlighting the Supreme Court's history and processes. I did not necessarily understand how big of a role the Supreme Court had in the everyday processes of our government. It is a key component to our political structure that is often overshadowed by the other two branches of government, The Houses of Congress and the President of the United States. 

Privacy, Online & Off

Everything that you do online is tracked by someone, somewhere. It is one of the largest security concerns of our time. Private companies know who you follow, what you shop for, what you read, and so much more. While some of this information is purely sourced for strategic marketing placement, other parts of it are for private companies to collect your data, sometimes with malicious intent. 

The government can sometimes play a part behind the scenes in this operation. They parter with private companies to extract information about you. This makes it difficult to ask the government to hold companies accountable in these actions when they themselves are involved. I think that the government and legislators should work to implement legislation that can help protect unknowing, innocent consumers from having their data and information taken from them. The problem with that is, it can be difficult to draw the line on what the government should be permitted to do and what they should not be. Part of the pros associated with these operations is that this technology can help detect and track down potentially dangerous individuals that could pose a threat to society. This includes terrorists, spies, and other infringements on national security. 

These practices effect everyone at some extent. For the everyday consumer, they know your online patterns and information about you that you might rather wish was kept private. Although this can not be completely avoided, there are ways to help protect yourself and your loved ones from these invasive protocols. Some of these include, clearing your cookies and search history regularly, installing a VPN on your devices, and consciously choosing which applications you want to interact with. Different applications and online platforms over varying levels of security, and it is important to protect yourself in every way possible to help keep your online identity as private as you can. 

My Five News Sources of News

With the ever-changing digital age that we are living in, it is vital that we diversify our sources of news in order to ensure that we are receiving the most comprehensive view of the situation possible. This is largely in part because various new sources are likely to report on stories differently in order to cater to their differing target audiences. These are five sources of news that I regularly consume. 

My most regular source of news is Fox News . I view Fox News content through live television and through their app and Instagram accounts. I like this source for news because I feel like it can often offer an alternative view on stories compared to some more mainstream "left-leaning" sources such as The Washington Post and The New York Times. I do recognize that this source is heavily gearing toward their target market of middle-aged viewers who "identify or lean Republican". While some of the stories certainly feel biased, I can also argue that the platform critiques individuals that are often given "free passes" on the before-mentioned platforms. Another reason why I enjoy getting my information from Fox News is because it has been the most watch cable news network in the country for twenty one years in a row,  average 1.49 million viewers per day. 

I also like getting my news from podcasts via Spotify. The Daily Wire is one of my go-to media companies for dynamic, informing news podcasts. Each host offers an alternative view for pressing topics in today's news, often challenging the mainstream narrative. One thing that I really like about The Daily Wire is that the hosts are not trying to conform to a specific narrative on topics, but they share exactly how they feel, even when they have conflicting opinions within their own media company. I would say that this news platform is geared to the younger conservative generation. I think they cover stories that are often more "on trend" than stories covered by Fox News. Each podcast host has their own particular niche that they like to focus on. I like this approach because I like to know exactly what I am going to be listening to.  For example, Candace Owens generally has shows centered around the idea of "woke" pop culture and how she challenges those ideas. She also enjoys to speak to her own experience as a black woman in an age that is engulfed by the Black Lives Matter movement. I also really enjoy listening to Ben Shapiro. He, along with the other hosts in this media company, tend to challenge mainstream media in several ways. One particular reason why I value the information that Ben Shapiro share is that he criticizes both sides of the aisle if they are not preforming. I think that is something that is very valuable in today's increasingly polarized political climate. He also makes a significant effort to hire journalists and other employees who have either been silenced by other media outlets, or forced to leaved to due their beliefs on controversial topics. 

Another source that I receive my news from is various social media. I recognize that this is often not the most reliable source, but it is difficult not to consume news from social media with its glaring prominence in everyday life. It feel that it is not possible to go on social media without seeing any news stories. I see new stories most often on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and occasionally on Snapchat. This is a combination of news sites that are adding stories into my feed, but friends I follow reposting news stories as well. Most of the stories being reposted are not from well-known, reliable channels. They are from second hand accounts and not actual journalists. I am cautionary of these sources because I feel like they are tainted in an effort to be reposted by a large amount of people. If I see news stories that are reposted by masses of people, I tend to do my own research on the topic. 

The fourth source of news that I get my information from is my parents, mostly my dad. My dad does a lot of research when it comes to news, especially political news. I value his opinion because he makes sure to fully understand the topic before he speaks about it. If he does not know much about a topic, he is the first to admit that he does not know enough to speak about it. I really appreciate that because many people voice their opinion on a topic before they have done their research, and I believe that is the start of a lot of rumors and misinformation. As is the same with any source of news, I do not take it as truth and as a single source until I get information from other sources. 

The last source of of regular news that I consume is for local news. I mostly get my local news from the Portland Press Herald . I think it is very important to not only get news form national sources, but local as well. This particularly important for me during the weeks preceding the local elections. Local elections arguably have the most direct impact on one's day to day life, and it is very important to be well informed in this area before heading to the polls. I appreciate the Portland Press Herald because it is written for locals, by locals and addresses the most crucial issues instead of just the national headlines. One example of an issue that I have followed closely through the Portland Press Herald when the Maine lobster industry was facing backlash from federal lawmakers for not being a sustainable fishing practice. This is primarily due to the ongoing threat of the Right Whale population. I feel that this story is a prime example of the importance of local news outlets because if you do not live in the area, the bill proposed directly threatens the income of thousands of local fisherman. The national headlines often only highlight the political and environment complications of an issue, and it is important to remember that there are real people being impacted by the policies implemented in Washington.