I'm ba--ack!

Now that the semester has started I am going to try to get back into the groove of posting to this blog again! This ought to be an interesting semester...

For my Information Policy class I actually got to view a flick (nice, eh). The movie, "Good night, and good luck" was about Edward Murrow's valient exposure of Joseph McCarthy as an out of control witch hunter. I couldn't help but recognize certain parallels to this time period and what is currently happening today. It would seem that politicians have a dangerous amount of power when it comes to Information Policy. Issues of national security can permit politicians to withhold or classify information as secret. In this way, people can be denied rights to a fair trail and the public can be denied the right to know the motivations underlying government actions. It is definitely a tricky situation. Obviously, there are times when information is highly sensitive; but how can the public and the reporters of the news assess when information is being hidden for malevolent purposes? How often is information withheld for inappropriate purposes or hidden government agendas unpalatable to the public? Ultimately, is the classification of information ever really safe in regard to a democraticly founded republic? Big questions, eh?

Of course, another angle to consider is the power of the purse as related to the reporting of information. When the media is owned and funded by big money that holds definite interests in the news that is released, is it possible to ever really receive an objective, unadulterated news report? Furthermore, currently there is a battle in Congress concerning Internet neutrality. If Internet neutrality is vanquished, than the final frontier of intellectual freedom will suffer irreversible damage and consequences. No longer will the voices and opinions of many be served up on an equal playing field.

If you get a chance, watch the movie. Think about the world of information today. What do you think is going on?