How do you safeguard the political independence of the licensing of journalists? How do you ensure that a future government doesn't abuse the licensing regulations to suppress political criticism?
In the US, how do you reconcile this with the first amendment? How can you justify silencing people because they lack the 'correct' qualifications? If the only restriction is on the title 'journalist', what stops people from calling themselves a blogger while doing exactly the same things that a journalist does?
I think the methods applied are what needs accredited, not the results themselves. If an organization calls itself news or whatever nomenclature we agree to, they are claiming to follow accredited guidelines that we collectively trust.
At the end of the day, it comes down to heuristics around trust. It's not the message I want to validate, it's the means of preparation that bother me more. I can draw my own conclusions if I can trust the method.
Looking at it this way, would that resolve some of your concerns? Open auditing and accrediting do not need to involve censorship at all. You never lose the ability to say what you want, just to call yourself a "certified whatever". I dunno.
Note also that journalism is the only one of your mentioned professions that is specifically called out for protection in the Constitution.
Which ones don't?
The freedom of the press is the same thing as free speech, it applies to all of us. Correct me if you are referring to something else and I'm misunderstanding.
There are best practices in journalism, no? Disclosure, ethics, etc. How can I know if someone I rely on for information follows these rules. That's all I'm asking.
Doesn't canada do this? Aren't there requirements for calling yourself a news agency?
I contend that none of them do.
No. They are respectively a blogger, a blogger, and a Twitter user.
I don't think that anyone would be proposing restricting speech in this way, but on the same note, papers such as Weekly World News maybe couldn't pump out more stories about Bat Boy while attempting to call themselves journalists...
This raises the question: can the term "journalist" even be controlled?
Even the threat of it can affect what is / is not covered.
Once the government has significant power over journalism, you end up with Russian state sponsored journalism.
It's not perfect over here, and needs much improvement. Access is contingent on certain rules. It can get much worse.
Because once your government is the arbiter of "electrician", anyone who thinks the rules are ridiculous (they are frequently way over the top) will be marginalised (and unemployed)?
Because once your government is the arbiter of "programmer", anyone who can hack a few lines together but is only 12 and not permitted to license will be marginalised (and uneducated)?
It is getting much worse. Not only is little freedom left but it's been taken away under the guise of the exact opposite, and the façade is widely, and often violently, believed.
I've mostly plumbed, entirely wired and partially built my own house. I can see better ways to do what I did, of course, and much much worse ways to do what I did. The boiler installer I hired was, thankfully, top notch (I am ridiculously careful with gas).
Oh and I also installed the fibre, installed an ethernet and wifi router, protected it all with a firewall and integrated a server and VPN.
And I grow about ⅔ of my food.
I do all of this without being qualified to do any more than make a coffee and people who are actually 'qualified' (or, more realistically, licensed) have mostly congratulated me on my work.
Should I have done none of these thing because Whitehall thinks erroneously that I'm too stupid? Fuck those cunts. My daughter is safe, has good friends, is well fed and well educated despite their bureaucracy, not because of it.
If anyone thinks I should not have done the plumbing or the electrification, despite being unlicensed, explain why growing my own food and configuring my own internet are OK. Or try and convince my that I should sacrifice my router to my government. And if you attempt (and you will fail utterly) to do that, prepare to be told to fuck right off.
The trades are here to protect other people from me asserting my skill in electrician-ining, when I have no such skill but represent to others that I do.
Who is the ISIS of plumbing? I'm confused by that assertion.
If you screw up a router install you have no internet. Screw up a diy plumbing job...
>Coming up with these rules might be tricky, but shouldn't we try?
Russia has basically done it. Any web resource with more than 3000 monthly visitors gets the "mass media" status with additional rules and restrictions and related punishments. I'd not say that this is a good thing to say the least.
Even better- "software engineer"
Don't got your iron ring? Not an Engineer.
The thought of firmware or software in my body at some point scares the bejesus out of me, and it would bring me peace of mind to know there are accredited and audited standards for developing my pacemaker warez
It was so strange to see Reagan feted as he was upon his death. One could argue that, other than Nixon, he did more to accelerate the downfall of America than any other president.
Pundits are just loud mouths. Truthiness is irrelevant.
Propagandists knowingly lie, distort, omit, whatever.
I have no problem with opinion pieces or punditry, but don't try to disguise it as journalism.
I get the "free speech" argument, but I still cannot understand why we don't have rules about who can and cannot call themselves a journalist.
Coming up with these rules might be tricky, but shouldn't we try? Or have we and I'm just uninformed?