Post 3: Freedom of Expression

The State of American Democracy

What is the People's Responsibility?

 As an American, I feel extremely strongly about our freedoms and maintaining those freedoms from the government’s control. Our founding fathers vision for this nation was entirely wrapped around the value of free expression and therefore, the founding fathers protected our right to that. 

The eight values of free expression are vital to the health of American society. Unfortunately, I feel like our society is losing the importance of those values of free expression due to the hostile tendencies of some. I feel that our society has amplified extreme points of view and it has then, whether intentionally or not, created a large divide among the two biggest political parties in America. It seems like a Republican and a Democrat cannot have a civil conversation or come to a mutual understanding since it is seen as “betraying” their political party. I see people who care more about defending everything their political party says and stands for rather than being able to come to a reasonable understanding with each other.

The eight values of free expression are marketplace of Ideas, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, checking in on governmental power, promoting tolerance, promoting innovation, and protecting dissent. All of these values are extremely important when it comes to practicing good and fair democracy and they are pillars of true American society. 

Free speech is America’s most important trait and its value is immeasurable. Our entire government is founded on the principle of giving power to the people, not the government. By practicing free expression via the values stated above, it keeps a power balance between the people and the government. When the people stop practicing those values, the power dynamic can become imbalanced which is when we see divide in America and it seems like the government has an unproportional amount of power. 

One of the values that I see as extremely important is the promotion of tolerance. Tolerance is one of those values that is absolutely necessary

for a civil American society. When we see a decrease of tolerance, which is currently happening, it's the people that suffer, not the government. When families or communities are in turmoil since civil discourse isn’t being practiced, it's us who suffer and the government actually has the opportunity to gain more power. Individual politicians can prey on this divide in communities to create further division and therefore, gain a bigger fan base. 

No matter what side of the political spectrum you are on, it's always beneficial to listen to your fellow Americans and have a healthy level of skepticism when listening to politicians. If we blindly trust our political leaders, to the point where we attack fellow Americans, we are not far away from the fall of America. 

Polarization is another  consequence of the effects of not valuing free expression and Americans seeing each other as the enemy in protecting politicians. Currently, Democrats and Republicans are being pinned against each other, with the extremist opinions of each side being amplified rather than the moderate opinions, which actually make up the majority. Although most Americans fall somewhere in the middle of the political spectrum, social media boosts the extremist opinions posted since those posts get more “clicks”. 

Americans need to find the value of free expression of self and utilize every single day. Our political climate alters when we disvalue this protection of expression, and it's not in our favor. Not only do politicians gain more power when we ‘lose’ our voice, but our connection to our fellow Americans weakens, which is equally as dangerous from American democracy. It is not enough to just use our voice to state our opinions on the political climate; it is of the utmost importance and extremely necessary for us to amplify other opinions as well. Before politics, we are people; we are Americans. 

Post 2: The Supreme Court

 The Supreme Court

A Summary of Present Day & Historical Events 

The Supreme Court holds the highest amount of power within the United States government. It was established in 1789 with Article III of the U.S Constitution which gave power to the Supreme Court and power to inferior courts. This was a monumental decision in American history since it completely altered the way power is/was distributed in the American government. In Article III, it states that federal judges “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour” which has since been interpreted as granting the Justices a lifetime of service on the Supreme Court, unless the Justices themselves wish to step down and retire.This interpretation of the Constitution is a controversial one, since people have disagreed with granting a lifetime of power on the supreme court, especially when certain justice’s moral ethics come into question. 

The current Justices on the Supreme Court are John G. Roberts, Jr., Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, and Brett M. Kavanaugh and there is a picture of them attached below. One thing I didn’t realize until reading this article, is that there is one Chief Justice who is the highest judicial officer in the nation, and that role is currently being served by Justice John G. Roberts. He is responsible for presiding over the Court and arranging the agenda for their weekly meetings. There is no official requirements to be appointed as Chief Justice and they are voted in the same way as Associate Justices; appointed by the president and confirmed by the state

The Supreme Court has seen and voted on numerous important and interesting cases, some more famous than others. One case that this article mentions that is famous was Plessy v Ferguson in 1896 which set the standard of “separate but equal” when it came to segregation and that standard would be upheld for decades to come. Or Roe v Wade (1973), which protected a woman’s right to have an abortion and protected her privacy. I previously knew about those cases, and other famous cases, but in this article it mention many other, more obscure cases, like Mapp v. Ohio (1961) or Texas v. Johnson (1989). In Mapp v. Ohio (1961) ruling, it became unconditional to use evidence against someone that was obtained during an unlawful or illegal search.  With Texas v. Johnson (1989), it enforced an individual’s first amendment rights of free speech, even if it seems obscene, like burning an American flag. These two cases aren’t famous in name but instead, in practice. I knew that I had both of those rights that protected me from unlawful searches and freedom to express myself but I didn’t know the actual names of cases that granted me those rights. Nor did I know the time in history where Americans were specifically granted those rights. The Supreme Court gives a microphone to Americans so that we can go against the government and protects us from tyranny.

Post 1: Keeping Up in the World

Keeping Up in the World

How I Stay Updated and Informed

As a Journalism major, I’m extremely passionate about staying up-to-date on current events and frequently checking out the news cycle. I feel pretty confident in my go-to sources but obviously, we always have to expand our horizons and look at other perspectives. This is also true when I’m gathering information for research papers, since I’m presenting the research I need to make sure it's accurate and true. Through my personal passions and academic careers, I’ve developed a category for finding news and information that I feel is reliable and works well with my needs. 

#1: The New York Times 

    I’ve been reading the New York Times daily since high school since they offered a free subscription. I try to read at least one article a day to keep up with current events and I feel like they are an accurate and, mainly, unbiased news source that offers opinion articles from both sides of the argument. When looking for supporting evidence for a research paper or project, I like to search the topic in the “archived” section of their website to find information on the topic that was posted previously. These are the articles that are no longer “breaking news” or “front page news” so you wouldn’t be able to find them just by looking directly at their website. I would say that the New York Times is best for primary research in the beginning stages of a paper when you’re still gathering information for a broad, general overview of your topic. 

#2: JSTOR 

I’ve also been using this website since high school and it has been extremely helpful. It’s probably my favorite and most used database since it makes it super simple to look up scholarly articles. Just by searching keywords or your topic in the search bar, you find many detailed and specific scholarly articles, which you can trust to have reliable information. JSTOR is an academic database that brings the user reliable and academically-responsible information. This is a great tool to use for finding valuable academic information through other’s past academic papers, projects, or posts. 

#3: Associated Press News 

I’ve recently started using AP News for research papers and projects and found it extremely helpful. In my experience, AP News has provided unbiased information on current events that have up-to-date facts daily. They are committed to providing the public with unbiased, factual news and they even have a section of their website dedicated to this. Under the tab called “Fact Check” where they post articles debunking common and popular “fake” news that was posted by other platforms. AP News has become one of my most used websites for staying current with current events. If you are looking to stay updated with the news, I think this is a great place to find trustworthy information. If you find an article related to a research project that was published by AP News, I would say that it is a fantastic source to use, but I rely on them less formally, for staying in touch with current events within a variety of topics; business, sports, entertainment, climate, and much more. 

#4: Foreign Affairs 

Foreign Affairs is a print and online magazine which is published by the Council of Foreign Affairs. This news source has also recently made it into my news rotation due to the recent issues that have developed and involved overseas. I’ve found this news source to publish multiple sides of complex issues which has given me new perspectives and a greater understanding of international events. Additionally, I’ve learned about smaller, less-known international problems through this news source that I might have not found through popular American news channels. 

#5: Gale 

Gale is another online database that I’ve been using for a couple of years now. Like JSTOR, this is an online research tool that delivers the user reliable academic information. You can find detailed and extremely niche academic papers that you can use in your projects to support your argument. Online databases are different from online news sources because they are much more reliable and trustworthy since they were posted by other academics and fact-checked. Typically, these websites are seen as superior to other news sources, which is why I go to them first when starting a paper or project, so that I can be sure I’m starting on the right foot.