How Free is the Press Subjective Question

1. What do free ‘people’ take for granted?

Ans. Free people take for granted that without a free press, freedom of the people cannot exist.

2. Are there restrictions on Press in time of war?

Ans. Yes, the press censorship is imposed during the time of war to ensure that rumours do not get spread gut.

3. What do you mean by the term ‘free press’?

Ans. Free press usually refers to the freedom of the press in restrictive or technical way that is freedom from direction and censorship by the government.

4. Who is the master-the state or the people?

Ans. In a free state people are the master.

5. What does the unofficial censorship seek to do?

Ans. Unofficial censorship seeks to impose highest restrictions on the freedom of the press and freedom of expression by the people.

6. Name two sources of revenue newspapers usually survive on.

Ans. The two sources are the advertisers’ and ‘the person or company that owns the newspaper’.

7. What are the two basic assumptions about the public?

Ans. The two basic assumptions about the public are that it lacks in wit and can be made to believe anything.

8. What is suppression of context?

Ans. The supposition of the context is to distort the meaning that was actually intended.

9. Name two things that make the reports unreliable reading.

Ans. At times newspapers resort to inaccurate reporting and garbling and this puts a question mark against the authenticity of reports.

10. Why do books rarely criticise the press?

Ans. All the published works and books are reviewed by the press from time to time and these reviews are published in the newspapers and other periodicals. Unfavourable reviews would result into poor or very low sales of the book. This is why books rarely criticise the press.

11. How do the newspapers greet the slightest effort to hinder the irresponsible dissemination of nonsense?

Ans. The slightest effort to hinder the irresponsible dissemination of nonsense is greeted by a ‘concerted how’ which is a threat to the freedom of press.

12. Name the seven charges the author makes against the press.

Ans. Seven charges made by the author against the press are: false emphasis, garbling, inaccurate reporting, reversal of the facts, random fabrication of false stories, miracle mongering and flat suppression of news.

13. The editorial policy of a popular daily is controlled by two chief factors. Which are they? Explain.

Ans. The first factor which controls the editorial policy of a leading daily is the interest of the advertiser. The funds generated from the advertisers keep the circulation moving. To justify the rates of advertisement large circulation is needed and for that copies are to be sold at lower rates. No policy can be supported by the newspaper which gives against the vested interest of its advertisers. Second factor is the revenue generated through the wealth of an individual or company that owns the press. It is decided by the insight and ambition of that man or company who has the sufficient means to carry on without any support from advertisers.

14. What is garbling? How does Sayers illustrate this form of distortion?

Ans. Garbling is presenting a confused version or tactfully manipulating the words in such a way so as to convey the meaning differently to what was intended by the speaker. Sayers, during the course of production of her latest play, was asked about her future plans. She replied that she did not believe in making plans and that she preferred writing plays to novels even though better amount was paid for novels. Sayers added, that she had mentioned that she would write another play for canterbury festival if she was commissioned for the assignment. Next day, the reply duly appeared in the press in the form, Miss Sayers said she would write no more plays except on commission.

15. Describe in your own words the instances of deliberate miracle-mongering.

Ans. It was reported in several local newspapers and on public address systems that Ms Sayers had delivered a speech comprising of 20,000 words in the record span of an hour and a quarter. That was a case of deliberate miracle-mongering because. Miss Sayers had actually delivered a speech consisting of 8,000 words and the full text of the speech was available with the reporter. He could have seen for himself that it consisted of exactly 8,000 words. The error was precisely equal to 150 percent which could give one an estimate of actual truth in reporting.

16. How are the letters of protest treated by the newspapers? Describe in your own words.

Ans. It is an extremely difficult task to get the error in the newspaper reporting corrected. Correction of a misleading report entails lengthy and exhaustive correspondence because the falsehood may be communicated all over the world and may appear simultaneously in several hundred newspapers. If one takes action over the issue and accuses the newspaper of lack of veracity, a possibility of blackmail would always lurk in the background. Any public figure- writer, speaker, actor, politician or a businessman is made to feel that if one offends the press one would definitely repent this.

17. Have you ever written a letter of protest to any newspaper? What was the fate of this letter?

Ans. No, I have never written a letter of protest to any newspaper. I feel that newspapers receive many letters of protests on different issues and most of the letters find their way to the waste paper basket.

18. He that is unfaithful in little is unfaithful also in much.’ How does Dorothy L. Sayers cite trivial personal examples to prove that the newspapers misrepresent in various ways? Do you agree with her?

Ans. Dorothy L. Sayers says that if one cannot be careful with the truth in small matters, then one cannot be trusted with any major responsibility. According to her the freedom of press is true only in theory. She further says that in reporting the facts the newspapers are compelled to safeguard the intrests of the owners and the advertisers who provide funds. She refers to an interview to cite an example to show how the newspapers misrepresent. Yes we agree with her.

19. What is the author’s attitude to the freedom of press? Do you agree with her?

Ans. The author’s opinion about the press is purely nostalgic. She opines that press is powerful but misuses its freedom. They misquote the facts and make them look true. The freedom of the press is only for the name sake. In actual practise the freedom is highly restricted by political considerations and repercusions of the advertisers who provide finances which serve as a backbone of the newspaper. Press can give colour to the report so as to form public opinion the way it likes.

20. ‘Indeed, we may say that the heaviest restriction upon the freedom of public opinion is not the official censorship of the Press, but the unofficial censorship by a Press which exists not so much to express opinion as to manufacture it.’ How does the writer view the relationship between the press and the public opinion? Explain.

Ans. In actual practice freedom of the press is only for the name sake. In reality it is restricted more by way of unofficial censorship imposed through hidden threats, which compel the newspapers to turn and twist the factual details in such a manner that the report conveys an altogether different meaning from what the reality is. There is a close relationship between the press and public opinion as it is greatly influenced by the reporting in the press. This is the reason that the vested interest of politicians and owners of the newspapers throttle the freedom of the press and garbling in reporting is resorted to.