Places and forms of power

Places and forms of power:

Places of power can be any building or institution, city, country, state representing/standing for power.

Power can be defined as the ability to influence people’s minds and behaviours. Where over there is power there is counter power to challenge or question / doubt / suspect power. Counter powers are necessary to avoid power from becoming too powerful.

Sequence 2: The power of the media

Thanks to the invention of Gutenberg in 1454, the printing have permitted to copy many texts in a reduced time. This invention allowed also the expansion of the journalism that was the first form of media also called the 4th power. We will be now wondering about the different roles of the media as a counter power in nowadays societies?

1) The media as an active counter power

2) The media as a passive counter power

Indeed, the media could have a role of counter power discrediting the power of the government. That’s why the free press have a huge role in democracies as they are allowed to tell their readers/viewers/listeners their point of view without necessarily supporting the government.

This situation could be illustrated by the case of Watergate that we’ve studied in class. Richard Nixon was a popular Republican president in 1972 as he have accomplished many international achievements. Unfortunately, it was going to change… In 1972, a burglary in the Democratic headquarters have been noticed and it looked like a spy mission. At this period, we suspect the president to be involved in this burglary. 2 journalists from the Washington Post named Woodward and Burnstein decided to investigate about this case for uncovering the mystery. Most of their information was provided by a whistle-blower called deep throat. He was a FBI director and thanks to his help they were able to find the tapes which were the proof of Nixon’s involvement in Watergate scandal. Afterwards, the president Nixon decided to resign instead of being impeached as it would have been really shameful for him. He was the first American president to resign. This article showed us the important role of the press in a democracy as it lead to a resignation of a president.

At the other side, we’ve seen that the freedom of the press wasn’t as easy as it was for the Watergate case. In the postcard for the World Press Freedom Day, an old gagged woman can be noticed. Silence kills democracy… but a free press talks. It refers to the freedom of the press that have been threatened since years like in dictatorships were the media have to support the government either they disappear by the censorship or sometimes more violently.

To conclude, we can quote Malcolm X who said: “The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent. They control the minds of the masses.” It means that the media control the doxa that’s why they have to be unbiased and to share the information impartially. Nowadays, sharing information is easier thanks to the social networks and Internet nevertheless it’s also harder to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Because of this new phenomena we have to check the sources of the news we

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