World’s Media Control

 written by 20811 An Ga Hyun

 

Have you ever thought your life could be under control like The Truman Show?

It’s probably hard to imagine if what you saw and heard was actually censored and distorted through something.

Society calls this state-controlled media. But unfortunately, the world still has media control that oppresses freedom of expression in different countries like North Korea or China. For example, when a reporter writes an article pertaining to a government, that government could erase the article after it’s uploaded.

Some press companies are being censored, modified and deleted in advance at the national level. Perhaps, people will be the first to think about it when they hear the press control.

To reduce critical public opinions on a particular issue, networks may focus on other events or issues. For example, when a bad political or economic issue occurs, media talk less about the content and talk more about entertainment and education issues so that people quickly pay attention to. In that case, the problematic subject is buried, and only gossip is expanded and delivered to the reader. This media method allows people to know about society through a narrow view with limited information.

But it’s not easy to figure out how controlled the media you’re seeing is. A single word does not define it. This is because people living in different places are the most straightforward indicators of what kind of media environment they are in. For example, people living in China don’t know how controlled they are. People living in Finland accept transparent information along with the Freedom of the Press Act and freedom of publication and accept reliable stories while consuming various news.

The Press Freedom Index is a ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders since 2002. The survey consists of six indicators: pluralism, independence from power, self-censorship level, transparency of institutional devices, coverage and reporting, and news production structure. At this time, pluralism means recognizing one being as equal to another. Showing a democratic attitude implies the degree to which the other person’s principles or purposes may differ.

The Press Freedom Index is the world’s most reliable indicator of freedom of speech. It is used as a measure of political freedom. In general, politically developed countries rank higher, and underdeveloped countries rank lower. For this reason, dictatorship and communist countries rank low.

Worldwide Press Freedom Index

Zero is the perfect score, and the lower the score is, the more freedom of speech is guaranteed.

0 to 15 points (navy): good

15 to 25 points (light blue): satisfactory situation

25 to 35 points (yellow): noticeable issues

35 to 55 points (orange): difficult situation

55+ points (dark red): a very serious situation

Rank	Country	Score
1	Norway	6.72
5	Costa Rica	8.76
172	Laos	70.56
175	Vietnam	78.46

 

In this way, each country’s freedom of speech can be identified at a glance on the map.

In 2021, the countries which ranked the highest were Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and New Zealand. On the other hand, the lowest-ranking countries were Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Iran, Syria and Cuba.

In the 21^st century, many countries are still violating individual freedom of expression and the right to know. Therefore, not everything is true just because it is one of the top countries in the media index. That’s why efforts are needed. The world should consider how to make more countries have “real” media.

The media always has room for distortion, so people need to take a critical view of whether or not there is anything distorted. Efforts such as cross-validation will help filter distorted information. It is most important to continue to doubt and criticize whether “the information you’re accepting is correct or reliable.”

Instead of just looking at one article, should look at several article sites, watch various news networks, and judge whether the content is reliable. If people look at only one article, they can acquire only suppressed and biased information. However, if look at several articles, can get more reliable information by comparing them. You shouldn’t click on entertainment scandals or gossip, but rather check what’s happening seriously in society.