Macaulay and the Freedom of the Press

1963 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 661-664
Author(s):  
David Lowenthal
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Political Criticism ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government

Some four years before the appearance of Mill's On Liberty, Macaulay sang the praises of the freedom of the press in his History of England. One hundred and sixty years earlier, in 1695, the censorship of the press had been withdrawn in England. Prior to this event, according to Macaulay, the prohibition of political criticism had elicited a flourishing trade in contraband criticism to which moderation was unknown. Its creators and distributors were not law-abiding citizens, and their character was not high. In fact, what they produced was unprincipled, fanatical, wild and dissolute in the extreme.For the aftermath, we must quote at length:… The emancipation of the press produced a great and salutary change. The best and wisest men in the ranks of the opposition now assumed an office which had hitherto been abandoned to the unprincipled or the hotheaded. Tracts against the government were written in a style not misbecoming statesmen and gentlemen; and even the compositions of the lower and fiercer class of malcontents became somewhat less brutal and less ribald than in the days of the licensers.

The 1912 Duma Elections: The State, the Opposition and the Clergy

Orthodoxia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 111-124
Author(s):  
F. A. Gayda
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Difficult Situation ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Church

This article deals with the political situation around the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Empire in 1912 (4th convocation). The main actors of the campaign were the government, local administration, liberal opposition and the clergy of the Orthodox Russian Church. After the 1905 revolution, the “official Church” found itself in a difficult situation. In particular, anti-Church criticism intensified sharply and was expressed now quite openly, both in the press and from the rostrum of the Duma. A consequence of these circumstances was that in this Duma campaign, for the first time in the history of Russian parliamentarianism, “administrative resources” were widely used. At the same time, the authorities failed to achieve their political objectives. The Russian clergy became actively involved in the election campaign. The government sought to use the conflict between the liberal majority in the third Duma and the clerical hierarchy. Duma members launched an active criticism of the Orthodox clergy, using Grigory Rasputin as an excuse. Even staunch conservatives spoke negatively about Rasputin. According to the results of the election campaign, the opposition was even more active in using the label “Rasputinians” against the Holy Synod and the Russian episcopate. Forty-seven persons of clerical rank were elected to the House — three fewer than in the previous Duma. As a result, the assembly of the clergy elected to the Duma decided not to form its own group, but to spread out among the factions. An active campaign in Parliament and the press not only created a certain public mood, but also provoked a political split and polarization within the clergy. The clergy themselves were generally inclined to blame the state authorities for the public isolation of the Church. The Duma election of 1912 seriously affected the attitude of the opposition and the public toward the bishopric after the February revolution of 1917.

The market for satirical magazines in late Francoism and the Transition (1970–84): Dissent and political opposition

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 193-208
Author(s):  
Francesc Salgado de Dios
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
Spanish Transition ◽  
Daily Press ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of

This article offers a first collective history of the main satirical reviews during the Spanish Transition (La Codorniz, Hermano Lobo, Barrabás, El Papus, Por Favor and El Jueves), which comprised a publication segment aimed at expressing a barely recognized freedom of the press. The text describes the development of this sector of the non-daily press, satirical magazines, which burst onto the scene only to contract a few years later, in the early 1980s. The sector attracted a readership of its own, giving cover to a non-conformist, sometimes disenchanted editorial approach that challenged much of the so-called discourse of consensus, which was politically hegemonic in the press during the Transition.

Figure 2.8: numbered format of extract 2 1 This is not a battle between the freedom of religion 2 and the freedom of the press; 3 two freedoms which we treasure greatly. 4 This is rather a battle of right and wrong. 5 Has the Daily Mail infringed the plaintiff’s right to a good, clean reputation, 6 or has the plaintiff Mr Orme in all the circumstances no right to any reputation at all in this case because of what he and his organisation have done and do? 7 Was the Daily Mail wrong about its allegations in its article? 8 Was it wrong about its allegations during this case? 9 Or was the plaintiff wrong; 10 was the plaintiff giving a false picture? 11 That is what it is, members of the jury, not a battle between freedom of the press and freedom of religion, 12 but a battle of right and wrong. Looking at Figure 2.8, above, the first two and last two sentences of the extract (lines 1, 2, 11 and 12) form a ‘sandwich’ comprising repetition of the main assertion that the case is not a battle between freedom of the press and freedom of religion. It is as if he is saying that the argument is so because ‘I say so, twice!’. Another example of repetition is found in the structure of the run of three rhetorical questions, both in terms of length and the use of amplification through alliteration: ‘was juxtaposed with wrong’ in lines 7, 8 and 9. The structure of the extract also demonstrates that the judge has the authority to impose that reading of events. For he says, in line 11, ‘This is what it is, members of the jury’. Who is the ‘we’ found in line 3? (a) Is it the royal ‘we’, symbolising the ultimate authority of the court? (b) Is it merely the judge? (c) Does it include judge and jury? ‘We’ is undeniably an inclusive term. It is suggested that, in this instance, the judge is talking in relation to the court and the law, as an official spokesman of the law. The choice of the word ‘battle’, as part of what turns out to be a continuing war metaphor which runs throughout the entire summing up, as a major organising theme that argument is war, is interesting. The word ‘fight’ or ‘skirmish’ is not chosen, but ‘battle’. The reference to battle puts the case ‘high up’ in a hierarchy of modes of physical fighting—for example skirmish, scrap, fight, battle. Battle denotes that opposing armies gather together with their greatest degree of strength to fight for as long as it takes for a clear victor. Of course, it is not unusual to find ‘fighting’ metaphors used to describe English trials. Because of their accusatorial nature (‘He did it judge.’ ‘No, he did it judge.’). Early in the history of English dispute resolution, trial by battle (a physical fight) was used to determine guilt and innocence as a perfectly acceptable alternative to trial by law.

2012 ◽  
pp. 39-39
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Daily Mail ◽  
Physical Fighting ◽  
Acceptable Alternative ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
War Metaphor ◽  
Rhetorical Questions

Lachish

2020 ◽  
pp. 125-156
Author(s):  
Billie Melman
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Documentary Films ◽  
Biblical Archaeology ◽  
The Press ◽  
National Archives ◽  
History Of ◽  
Museum Archives ◽  
The Government ◽  
Visual Materials

Focusing on one archaeological mound, Tell ed-Duweir, in the lowland region of Palestine, in the vicinity of Hebron, identified as biblical Lachish, the fortress city in the kingdom of Judah, Chapter 4 moves between London, the Tell, and its neighbouring villages. The chapter is a history of a landmark excavation, which uncovers the variety of its archaeological, biblical, anthropological, social, and political layers. Drawing on a wealth of written and visual materials at the Wellcome Institute, the British Museum Archives, the Israel Antiquities Authority, the National Archives, as well as on the press and archaeologists’ records, the chapter relates the identification of the Tell as Lachish, the discovery of the famous Lachish Letters (in pre-Exilic Hebrew), and their effect on Biblical Archaeology and epigraphy, to the rise of new fields of knowledge such as physical anthropology and anthropometrics. The chapter argues that the excavation project was regarded by archaeologists as a means of modernizing rural Palestine and the lives of Palestinian peasants and labourers. It recovers the modernizers’ daily life on the Tell and their representations of it in writing, photography, and documentary films. It also recoups the process of the Tell’s expropriation, as a historical monument, by the mandate authorities. Alongside the reports of archaeologists like James Leslie Starkey (who was murdered on his way from the Tell to the opening of the new Rockefeller museum in Jerusalem), Olga Tufnell, and Charles Inge, the chapter recovers the voices of villagers as they are heard through their petitions to the government about their denied access to the excavated land.

Freedom of the Press

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Lebovic
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
Constitutional Right

According to the First Amendment of the US Constitution, Congress is barred from abridging the freedom of the press (“Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”). In practice, the history of press freedom is far more complicated than this simple constitutional right suggests. Over time, the meaning of the First Amendment has changed greatly. The Supreme Court largely ignored the First Amendment until the 20th century, leaving the scope of press freedom to state courts and legislatures. Since World War I, jurisprudence has greatly expanded the types of publication protected from government interference. The press now has broad rights to publish criticism of public officials, salacious material, private information, national security secrets, and much else. To understand the shifting history of press freedom, however, it is important to understand not only the expansion of formal constitutional rights but also how those rights have been shaped by such factors as economic transformations in the newspaper industry, the evolution of professional standards in the press, and the broader political and cultural relations between politicians and the press.

The attempted impeachment of Sir William Scroggs, Lord Chief Justice of the court of King's Bench, November 1680–March 1681

1995 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 843-873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lois G. Schwoerer
Keyword(s):  
Print Culture ◽  
Whig Party ◽  
Legislative Authority ◽  
Chief Justice ◽  
Chief Minister ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government ◽  
History Of The Press

ABSTRACTGenerally dismissed by historians as just an hysterical gesture by parliamentary whig leaders disappointed and angered over the failure of the second Exclusion Bill, the attempted impeachment in 1680–1 of Sir William Scroggs was in fact a complicated and important affair. Although a failure in legal terms (because King Charles dissolved two parliaments), it succeeded in political terms when the king dismissed Scroggs. A propaganda ploy to embarrass the duke of York and also the king of England, re-unite the whig party, and re-ignite anti-popery fervour to promote another try at Exclusion (contrary to recent revisionism), the proceedings provoked discussion of many central issues, but most importantly of the legislative authority of parliament, or control of the law; the affair provoked a ‘crisis of authority’. Print culture played an unprecedented role: four of the eight articles of impeachment against Scroggs were connected with the press. Press people, in effect, brought down a chief minister of the crown and severely embarrassed the government, an event of signal importance in the history of the press.

Authoritarianism may deepen in Tanzania

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Donor Relations ◽  
The Press ◽  
Government Interference ◽  
United Front ◽  
The Government

Significance Lissu's arrest is only the latest manifestation of a recent upturn in harassment of opposition MPs, including numerous arrests and several raids on MPs’ homes. All of the country’s newspapers have had their licences revoked, and have been given less than two months to re-register with the government. Eight MPs of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) were stripped of their seats, in what is widely perceived as government interference in a factional struggle within CUF. Most recently, it has been rumoured that a new law to govern political parties is in the offing. Impacts Creeping restrictions on freedom of the press will further constrict the democratic space. The government’s aggressive posture towards international mining firms will persist. Perceived authoritarianism will add volatility to government-donor relations.

Systems and methods for political communication in post-war Italy

2018 ◽  
pp. 11-29
Author(s):  
Andrea Mariuzzo
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Popular Press ◽  
Political Identities ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Materials Used ◽  
Post War ◽  
Media And Communication

This chapter defines the channels used to elaborate and disseminate propaganda, and reconstructs a history of the circuits and the most significant materials used to create and disseminate language. It places the press and propaganda sections of parties and mass associations in the more complex context of the media and communication agencies that participated in the making of Italian political identities, such as major political newspapers, publications and exhibitions promoted by the government and by foreign embassies, and the popular press.

Present-day Poland Media Landscape: Compliance with EU Regulations

2017 ◽  
pp. 116-127
Author(s):  
Oksana Zvozdetska
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Public Media ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Press ◽  
Law And Justice ◽  
The Government ◽  
Polish Government

The article gives an in-depth analysis of the modern Poland government policy in taking on public media and the European Union stance regarding these reforms. The author argues that Poland public media have been the subject of political disputes since the 90s of the last century. Noteworthy, in October 2015 the newly elected Polish government, namely, the ruling Law and Justice party (known by its Polish initials as PiS) announced its public media to radically reform. To be more precise, the government aimed at replacing the current public media with a national broadcaster that would promote national interests under closer government control. According to PiS elite, Polish public media is presently supervised by the National Media Council, an organization that consists of members elected by the president and the Lower House of the Polish parliament. This means that Poland’s public media is under direct control of the government. The reform of the public media has been part of PiS plans to re-orientate Polish society towards traditional values since the party came back to power. What is more, the heads of the ruling Law and Justice party consider that the present-day public media are the tools of propaganda of the ruling in 2007-2015 and currently the oppositional liberal party – the Civic Platform. The researcher notes that the Polish government launched a new parliamentary initiative as a result of legislative changes, and eventually, the government has returned to the state-known media-dependent government-owned model in the past. Furthermore, from the point of view of a democratic state, law and its main provisions, this reform stipulates the authorities and the mass media symbiosis. However, public media should guarantee freedom of speech, information and creative independence and the separation of public media from politics. Remarkably, in a country, where public media used to be a tool of the communist dictatorship until 1989, media and constitutional reforms pose threats to civil liberties. According to NGO ‘Freedom House’ research, freedom of the press suffers from oppression by the authorities, the government’s intolerance to independent or unbiased journalism, political influence on the media and restrictions on freedom of expression regarding Polish history and consciousness. Interestingly according to the latest studies done in 2017, Poland public media have become partially free for the first time since 1990. To conclude, in December 20, 2017 the European Parliament adopted the resolution, backing the European Commission decision, to initiate the sanctions imposition on Poland over judicial reform. Consequently, the European Commission triggered a procedure against undermining and shrinking of democracy, violation of human rights, freedom of speech, as well as pluralism and the formation of a dependent judicial system in Poland. Keywords: Republic of Poland, public media, freedom of the press, EU sanctions

scholarly journals Limits to Freedom of Speech in the Republic of Latvia During the Parliamentary Period (1918–1934)

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 241-261
Author(s):  
Elīna Grigore-Bāra ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
The State ◽  
Freedom Of The Press ◽  
Previous Period ◽  
The Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Law ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Constitutional Identity

The article is dedicated to the analysis of one element of the constitutional identity of the Latvian State – freedom of speech – during the initial democratic period in the State’s existence. The author analyses the rules on the protection of honour and supervision of the press as limits to freedom of speech. It is concluded in the article that the boundaries between one person’s freedom of speech and another person’s honour in the Republic of Latvia changed little compared to the previous period in the history of law and that honour as a legal benefit was prized more highly. The framework of freedom of the press, in turn, was constantly expanded. However, the creation of the lists of prohibited books and third-rate and obscene literature proves that the State did not rely on individuals exercising freedom of speech properly. Paternalistic treatment of its citizens was not unknown to the new democratic republic.

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