Mass Media Democracy: Freedom has its limitations

by April Joy Apilado 

 

  Here in the Philippines, the government type is democracy so it just follows that mass media is all about freedom of expression and speech. But a lot of media practitioners do not know how to handle such freedom and it results to negative results. First, democracy is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections and mass media is defined as a medium of communication (as newspapers, radio, or television) that is designed to reach the mass of the people. 

           Freedom is often mistaken that a person can do anything he wants, but in reality if a person does that, it would often lead to other person’s demise. Freedom comes with a responsibility, that when a person does something, he should know his limits and the consequences of his actions. Freedom of expression does not give you the power to destroy another person’s life or reputation; it gives the person the power to reach out to a lot of people, in the world of mass media that is.

          Mass media must not be used to a person’s personal gain, it should not be used incorrectly and most of all it must not be used in an abusive way. Being a media practitioner is a great opportunity to start change in the society but it can also bring doom to the society. It means that a practitioner must know his/her limits in giving out information to the society. For example, there is a hostage taking in a house, the police are trying to negotiate with the suspect. It came down to the decision that the SWAT Team will take down the suspect. The media reported the said plan to the news and was televised. The suspect is watching the news for information about his demands and it lead to him knowing the police’s plans. You may know the outcome and it certainly will end up in a couple of dead bodies.

        That is what I am talking about with the said limitations of media practitioners. Certain information must not be televised or broadcasted because it may cause negative outcomes and may endanger a person’s life.