Democracy And Human Rights Flashcards
What do responsible citizens do:
- are aware of respect and promote human rights.
- vote in elections.
- participate in campaigns, events and projects that promote human rights.
- obey the laws
- are concerned about the welfare of others.
Definitions of
- Campaign
- Events
- Projects
- Violation
Campaign: a planned series of actions intended to achieve a particular aim.
Events: planned occasions for activities
Violation: interfering with a person’s rights, doing something that is a against the law.
Project: planned activity that have a specific purpose like to improve something, usually take over a period of time.
Definitions
The Bill of Rights
Discrimination
Human rights violations
Discrimination: The act of treating a person, unfairly or unequally because they are, or you they are different from you.
The Bill of Rights: It enshrines the rights of people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom.
Human rights violations: Its the act of hurting, disrespecting someone else’s human rights.
Role of media in democracy:
- to expose human rights violations
- promote public debates
- report unlawful activities
- inform the public on political information
- shape public opinion
- expose corruption and mismanagement.
The media should:
- should explaining what is happening and give enough on information to explain why it is happening.
- must explain issues without being sensational or trying to shock.
- must give political parties equal exposure.
- should report content to inform the public and not to please their sponsors.
Examples of when media doesn’t fulfill their roles responsibly:
- Some media make money from advertisements and sponsors. Their aim is therefore to satisfy the interests of the advertisers and sponsors. These interests may not be the same as the public’s interests.
- News entertains instead of informing. Some media are filled with gossip, sex, scandals and violence rather than facts.
- The media can sometimes exaggerate violence and make people afraid for no reason.
- News and interpretations of events may be biased, incomplete or incorrect
Freedom of expression?
It means that you can express your ideas and opinions freely through speech, writing and other forms of communication.
This freedom of expression has limitations. People may not express views that violate the rights of others.
The lack of freedom in undemocratic countries makes us realize how privileged we are to live in a democratic country.
Constitutional freedom of expression
-The Constitution states that everybody has the right to freedom of expression, which includes:
•Freedom of the press and other media.
•Freedom of academic and scientific research.
•Freedom of artistic creativity.
• Freedom to receive or impart information or ideas.
Constitutional limitations to freedom of expression
The right to freedom does not include:
- Propaganda for war.
- Incitement of violence.
- Incitement to cause harm.
- Advocacy of hatred that is based of gender, race or religion.
The Protection Of State Information Bill.
- It is also known as the Secrecy Bill as proposes long jail sentence for journalists or whistleblowers or anyone who makes state secrets public.
- It includes information that the general public and other countries don’t know. It used to protect the public and country.
- There are some fears that the bill is abused to protect some corrupt officials.
Extent to which media reflects a democratic society:
Topics covered:
The topics are chosen by editors and bosses. These topics don’t usually have a neutral opinion. The editors choose topics on how newsworthy it is and what the entertainment value is.
Positions taken by editors
Editors have a lot of power because of their ability to express their opinions on editorials.
The editors position can be seen from the type of content allowed, space allocated and slant or focus of the news report.
Space allocated:
It refers to what page an article appears on newsworthy magazine, how much time is given to it in a TV or radio broadcast.
Geographical distribution
Example:
The accessibility of information for different groups in SA is not equal-especially in rural areas
Critical analysis of the media
Critically analyzing the media is important because it evaluates the balance and fairness in reporting. Pay attention to sources used, interest, exaggeration and accuracy.
