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07/24/10(Sat)14:15 No.1810717http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/hrc/theory/mediafreedom/t.4.1[7].html
Those who don't remember their history are doomed to repeat it
>>The
contradiction between the democratisation and bureaucratisation of the
state haunted the struggle for media freedom. During the 1789-99 French
revolution, the Jacobins pioneered a new definition of the freedom of
communications, which extended this right beyond the small number of
journalist-printers. Ironically, this more democratic form of media
freedom was developed during a period of emergency rule, which had been
imposed to fight against royalist uprisings and foreign invasions.
According to the leaders of the Jacobins, the establishment of a
dictatorship in the short-term was needed to create the conditions for
the foundation of a democratic republic in the long-term. As a
consequence, the rights of particular individuals could be justifiably
violated by the state in the interests of the whole Nation-people.
Using this argument, the Jacobin government abolished the media freedom
of the journalist-printers and introduced tight state supervision over
all newspapers and other publications. Although censorship had been
tyrannical under the absolute monarchy, the republican government
believed that the suppression of publications advocating the return of
the old order was completely legitimate. As well as these restrictive
measures, the Jacobins also used the media for the political and moral
education of the people in republican values. In their view, the civil
war had been primarily caused by the ignorance of the benefits of
democracy among the population. Therefore, alongside the organisation
of popular festivals and public education, the Jacobin government
subsidised the dissemination of republican propaganda by newspapers and
book-publishers. |
