Limits on Free Speeech

While making a decision and carrying it out is the job of government, criticizing it is the job of journalism. Free speech has always been the governments object to destroy. Very often lots of people thought that some nasty events might have been more beautiful when those events were left unknown.

There are reasons why people need 100% free speech, and those who want some secrecy also have good reasons. These days, we are combining the two ultimate ends together, by governments awarding journalists achievement and the journalists taking the rewards from governments for their achievements. But not so long ago journalism belonged to quiet a different arena, building their own castle. The journalists were fighting the governments in the name of the right to know. But the government was right to crack down the journalism for the justice and safety for all.

What confused me was the boundary between the matter of national security and that not. Let us assume that North Korea had sent 50 rangers, trained to kill, to Seoul and trying to assassin, say, a key leader of local community. It could cause big chaos when open to the society. That could belong to the matter of national security, therefore could be kept unknown to avoid the chaos. But unfortunately there were so many CIA plots going on in the developing countries, and even in the developed countries. Let me set an example, its 2002 just before the biggest soccer event is set to kick off. Korea government wants to boost tourism in Korea. So the government banned the entire broadcast that might degrade Koreas moderately good image. Will it work? Yes, for a couple of months but surely no more than that. The reality is doomed to be seen in the foreigners naked eyes. Let us go back to the national security problem, one of my friends lost job. And the unemployment rates gone up. The government wants low unemployment rate, so the government decided to kill him. The day after he lost job, he was gone, disappeared. The police and his family were super busy looking for him but one day his family was notified that he sacrificed himself for the government, but more information couldnt be announced due to the national security. If national security problem gets down to this level, then we can consider it as a national security problem whether we flush the toilet or not. Basically I dont want to see whole lot of dirty and nasty news around myself, but certainly only small parts are important for the security while most of them are manipulated to justify their means and achieve their goals.

Of course media have been misused and overused. Let us give a look at the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Certainly it is the matter of privacy except that the moral values of the president were at stakes. The media seemed determined to force the Clintons to divorce. In my opinion, it might have been far better left within the White House. What about the recent air strikes against Servian? The day after the air strikes, almost all-Korean newspapers reported only the simple fact that Servian president Slobodan Milosevic refused to accept the peace agreement and he is god damned bastard. They failed to point out that NATO refused t get agreement or resolution from the UN Its the UN's turn to strike NATO. Hey, do you know a beauty-queen-turned porn star in Korea? It certainly is private matter. Lots of things might have been more beautiful and good when they were kept the other way. I dont think developed countries are making expensive satellites to watch someone else's sexual behaviors, nor think that they are sending spacecraft to take pictures of Martians private lives.

Just like those, all things have two sides of it. But I want to give more weight on the 100 % free press than any limits on the free press. I think the two sides of free press are important and sometimes dangerous but keeping down the flow of information could be murderous. In my humble opinion, putting any pressure on the free press is like forcing people stop breathing because the air is contaminated. However contaminated, we still need them.