Identity of African American Men Essay

â€Å"No metaphor can capture completely the complexity of ethnic dynamics in the U. S. ‘Melting pot’ ignores the persistence and reconfiguration of the ethnicity over the generations. ‘Mosaic,’ much more apt for pluralistic societies such as Kenya or India, is too static a metaphor; it fails to take in to account the easy penetration of many ethnic boundaries. Nor is ‘salad bowl’ appropriate; the ingredients of a salad bowl are mixed but do not change. ‘Rainbow’ is a tantalizing metaphor, but rainbows disappear. ‘Symphony,’ like ‘rainbow,’ implies near perfect harmony; both fail to take into account the variety and range of ethnic conflict in the United States. The most accurately descriptive metaphor, the one that best explains the dynamics of ethnicity, is ‘kaleidoscope. ’ American ethnicity is kaleidoscopic, i. e. ‘complex and varied, changing form, pattern, color†¦ continually shifting from one set of relations to another; rapidly changing. ’ When a kaleidoscope is in motion, the parts give the appearance of relationships. The viewer sees and endless variety of variegated patterns, just as takes place on the American ethnic landscape. †- Lawrence Fuchs (Literature for Composition 1032) â€Å"Identity in America† was the theme chosen by my English 201 study group. This theme was taken from chapter twenty two of the Literature for composition: Reading and Writing Argument text book. However, I focused the broad theme of â€Å"Identity in America† to the more narrowed theme of â€Å"The Display of African American men in the media. † I chose this theme or topic because I felt that I can relate to it and as a matter of fact, it was also interesting to me. But in order to conduct my research on the particular topic, I came up with the following question, â€Å"How has the identity of African American men been displayed by the media: negatively or positively? † This question was chosen in order to provoke an argument for discussion. I conducted several interviews in order to acquire information about my selected topic. The media’s display of the identity of African American men can be discussed or looked at from two angles: negatively or positively. First, from my experience I can say that the media displays African American men in both lights, negatively and positively. But after conducting interviews with several individuals, my opinion has somewhat changed. I was always aware of the negative images of African/black men in the media. But I was not aware that this display had evolved overtime. My first interview was conducted with April T. Glasgow, a communications major at the University of the Virgin Islands on Wednesday 20th February 2008, at approximately ten o’clock in the morning. We conducted the interview at her dorm’s lobby. I had explained the topic prior to meeting with her, so she already had an idea about what issue the discussion would be addressing. Generally, her opinion was that black men were being exploited and portrayed negatively by the media. She also stated strongly that black men were too often portrayed or given the roles of thugs, gangsters, and pimps in films and magazines. In addition, a suggestion she made on how we could resolve this stereotype was that black people must unite and stand up against these negative portrayals especially those in rap music videos. The second interview was carried out that same day with Professor Alex Randall. His general statements were that the media has changed over the years. â€Å"The negative portrayals of the 1960’s and 1970’s have changed,† Randall stated. Randall felt that in modern times, people of color were treated more fairly and given a more positive portrayal in the media. Randall stated that there were many positive images in the media of African Americans, such as Denzel Washington, Barack Obama, Michael Jordan, and Bill Cosby. In addition, Randall said that in previous years no such image could have been seen in the media. â€Å"We are rational human beings and it’s our choice to choose what part of the spectrum of negative and positive images we would want to emulate,† said Randall. This statement impacted me and slightly changed my opinion on the topic. At that point in conducting my primary research for the paper, my position on the topic has somewhat been altered. After conducting the interviews with April T. Glasgow and Professor Alexander Randall I have become more open minded to the issue. I would admit that I was initially a bit biased and reserved on the topic prior to evaluating the topic from both sides; negatively and positively. In order to decide which position I was going to take I would have to do more secondary research on the topic. Since I started this research paper my observation and assessment of the media have taken a different turn. I now compare and contrast men of other races in the media to African American men. My secondary research was, for the most part, completed using internet sources. The articles that I discovered on the web were very useful and contributed greatly to my research. Three internet articles were analyzed to achieve the secondary data for my paper. The first article I examined was â€Å"The Media’s Bias against black men in America. † The article was basically a discussion of a piece written in the New York Times about the plight of American black men. The author, Armstrong Williams, stated that the New York Times article was another example of major media outlets using negative statistics to consistently cast black men as the scourge of this country. Williams made several strong and interesting statements throughout the article that I thought was beneficial to this research paper. For example, according to Williams, â€Å"The continual coverage of the black man’s plight instead of his progress only hinders his growth, holds back our country from true equality, and hides the truth about the opportunities and challenges that we all face†(Williams  ¶4). Williams also suggested that the American public should challenge the lack of coverage of American black progress in this country (Williams  ¶5). â€Å"In the last century black men have literally gone from being slaves to business owners, government leaders, lawyers, doctors, firemen, generals, entertainers, and educators. No other oppressed class of people anywhere else in the world has advanced its standing in a society this quickly† (Williams  ¶6). I was really impressed by the way Armstrong used this statement to present his argument. In addition, Williams stated that the incidence of drug use, crime, scandal, divorce, and other social ills have increased dramatically for white men, but these statistics are not reported as problems about ‘white men’ in America (Williams  ¶6). â€Å"Approximately 9 out of 10 serial killers are white males between the ages of twenty and thirty five. Yet we never hear these statistics repeated over and over again in the mainstream press, making these crimes synonymous with one particular race as in this case with blacks† (Williams  ¶9). Later in the article Williams explained the image the media is creating internationally. The overseas media continuously places black men in negative positions such as school dropouts, irresponsible fathers, and victims of perpetual racism. The manner in which these stories are constructed and then, displayed to listeners and readers eliminates the possibility of believing that black men do not have positive roles (Williams  ¶10). Therefore, I agree with Williams that the repetitive negative articles can create a vicious cycle of harmful images and low expectations of black men. â€Å"The Black Image in the White Mind† is the title of the second internet article that I examined. The article was useful in constructing my opinion on the topic of how African American men are displayed in the media whether negatively or positively. The article presented some useful statistical data that was quite interesting and yet shocking to me. In this article by Robert M. Entman, he stated that a mug shot of a Black defendant is four times more likely to appear in a local television news report than of a White defendant (Entman  ¶2). He went on to say that the accused is two times more likely to be shown physically restrained in a local television news report than when the accused is a white man (Entman  ¶2). According to Entman, â€Å"The name of the accused is two times more likely to be shown on screen in a local TV news report if the defendant is black, rather than white† (Entman  ¶2). In addition, he stated that while black actors are now more visible in media, it is an open question as to how well they are being represented (Entman  ¶2). The Third article that I examined was â€Å"Black youth and mass media: current research and emerging questions† and I found it to be the most interesting of the three. This article was written by Craig Watkins, an Associate Professor of Sociology and Radio-Television- Film at the University of Texas at Austin. The article was basically an outline of some of the important research findings and emergent issues that examine the changing relationship between black American youth and the mass media industry (Watkins  ¶5). Watkins stated that for most of its history the mass media industry has produced images that distort and misrepresent the complexities of the African American experience (Watkins  ¶9). He stated that contemporary media representations of African Americans can be best described as paradoxical because blacks are simultaneously underrepresented and overrepresented in American media culture (Watkins  ¶9). According to Watkins, â€Å"blacks are underrepresented in many areas of mass media they are over represented in television sports broadcasts and crime and violence related portrayals† (Watkins  ¶13). Watkins said that images of blacks in magazines have increased but they are predominantly portrayed in athletic roles. According to Watkins, African American men are more likely to appear as athletes or musicians (Watkins  ¶14). The strongest statement throughout the article was when Watkins stated that the ‘athleticization’ of the black men in the media reproduces and popularizes long-standing myths about biological and intellectual differences between blacks and whites (Watkins  ¶15). Further analysis of Watkins’ article indicated that when African Americans are portrayed in television news it is generally in aggressive, violent, or criminal roles. Also, a recent analysis of the film industry asserts that blacks tend to be restricted to low budget features that focus disproportionately on crime, violence, and youth delinquency. The repetitious display of blacks in athletic roles creates a limited range of adult and professional role models for young black males being that they are faced with only few media images of successful African American men. The internet articles that I examined clearly showed that there is strong evidence to prove that African American men are negatively and unfairly displayed in the media. After examining these internet articles, I felt that even though they were some positive images of African American men in the media the majority of images are in some way biased or negative. After evaluating and examining my internet sources, I turned back my attention to my English 201 text book, Literature for Composition: Reading and Writing Arguments to get some more insight on the matter. While reading through chapter twenty-three, I came up on a quote from Lawrence Fuchs that I found to be tied in well with my overall all theme of identity in America. I decided to place this quote at the beginning of the research paper a sort of introduction to the overall theme. I chose this quote because it describes the complexity and internal conflicts of identity in America. Speaking of conflicts between identities, Hotel Rwanda is a film that displays such conflict to the extreme. This film was shown in class by my English professor because she said that it was in some way related to our theme and that it could also be used as a part of our secondary research. I did not really understand the connection with our theme until I saw the film. Hotel Rwanda is a historical drama about the hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina played by Don Cheadle during the Rwandan genocide and was directed by Terry George in 2004. The movie is actually based on the Rwandan genocide that occurred in 1994 where almost one million of both Tutsi and Hutu individuals were killed. In the movie which is a reflection of what actually took place, the media was used to instigate conflicts between the Tutsi and Hutu. Throughout the actual conflict the media was used as a tool to falsely display Tutsi’s as the scourge of Rwanda. For example, the radio station, RTLM was used to spread negative and hate messages about the Tutsis such as â€Å"Why do we hate the Tutsis? They are cockroaches†¦Rwanda is Hutu land. †(United Arts. Dir. Terry George. United States, 2004) All in all, it is quite evident from the primary and secondary research that there are both negative and positive displays of African American men in the media. Since the interviews I am more aware that the display of African Americans has changed over time for the better. However, from the Internet articles I have discovered that there are still a lot of negative images of African American men in the media. In addition, I learned that there are still many biases when presenting African American men in media whether on radio, television, or magazines. Overall, the research was very interesting and informative. April T. Glasgow and Professor Alexander Randall were very helpful in making my research paper a success. From carrying out this research paper I was able to conduct some interesting interviews, especially with Professor Randall. I was truly able to critically interpret and analyze the investigation in addition to improving my overall research skills. The research process was a learning experience that I will never forget. Works Cited Barnet, Sylvan, Burto William and Cain E. William. Literature for Composition. New York: Longman, 2007. Entman, Robert and Rojecki, Andrew. â€Å"Media and its Portrayal of Black Americans. † racerelations. about. com. New York. 2008. . Glasgow, April T. Personal Interview. 20 Feb. 2008. Hotel Rwanda. Dir. Terry George. Lions Gate Films and United Artists, 2004. Randall, Alexander. Personal Interview. 20 Feb. 2008. Watkins, S. Craig, â€Å"Black Youth and Mass Media: Current Research and Emerging Questions. † < http://www. rcgd. isr. umich. edu/prba/perspectives/winter2000/cwatkins. pdf>. Williams, Armstrong. â€Å"The Media’s Bias Against Black Men in America. † 31 March 2006. .

Implementing Comprehensive Human Resources Essay

Objective †¢ Human resources policies and practices should reduce the human risk factors in information technology (IT) security and information access controls. Decrease the risk of theft, fraud or misuse of information facilities by employees, contractors and third-party users. Scope †¢ the organization’s human resources policies, taken as a whole, should extend to all the persons within and external to the organization that do (or may) use information or information processing facilities. This could include: * tailoring requirements to be suitable for particular roles within the organization for which persons are considered; * ensuring that persons fully understand the security responsibilities and liabilities of their role(s); * ensuring awareness of information security threats and concerns, and the necessary steps to mitigate those threats; and   Providing all persons to support organizational privacy and security policies in the course of their normal work, through appropriate training and awareness programs that reduce human error; and ensuring that persons exit the organization, or change employment responsibilities within the organization, in an orderly manner. Roles and responsibilities †¢ Security roles and responsibilities of employees, contractors and third-party users should be defined and documented in accordance with the organization’s information privacy and security policies. This could include: * To act in accordance with the organization’s policies, including execution of all processes or activities particular to the individual’s role(s); * To protect all information assets from unauthorized access, use, modification, disclosure, destruction or interference; * To report security events, potential events, or other risks to the organization and its assets * Assignment of responsibility to individuals for actions taken or, where appropriate, responsibility for actions not taken, along with appropriate sanctions formal. Procedures and policies To be implementing in any IT domain controls by the organization. * Proper password security * Properly managing log files * Easily accessible network flow diagrams * Secure firewall rule sets * Handle security incidents * Secure data classifications * Limited employee access dangerous websites Policies that will accepted by the organization and needs to be implementing ASAP. Acceptable Use Policy | | Password Policy | Backup Policy | | Network Access Policy | Incident Response Policy | | Remote Access Policy | Virtual Private Network (VPN) Policy | | Guest Access Policy | Wireless Policy | | Third Party Connection Policy | Network Security Policy | | Encryption Policy | Confidential Data Policy | | Data Classification Policy | Mobile Device Policy | | Retention Policy | Outsourcing Policy | | Physical Security Policy | E-mail Policy | | | Terms and conditions of employment †¢ Employees, contractors, and third party users should agree to and sign a statement of rights and responsibilities for their affiliation with the organization, including rights and responsibilities with respect to information privacy and security. This statement could include specification of: * the scope of access and other privileges the person will have, with respect to the organization’s information and information processing facilities; * The person’s responsibilities, under legal-regulatory-certificatory requirements and organizational policies, specified in that or other signed agreements. * Responsibilities for classification of information and management of organizational information facilities that the person may use. * Procedures for handling sensitive information, both internal to the organization and that received from or transferred to outside parties. Responsibilities that extend outside the organization’s boundaries (e.g., for mobile devices, remote access connections and equipment owner by the organization. * The organization’s responsibilities for handing of information related to the person him/herself, generated in the course of an employment, contractor or other third party relationship. * An organizational code of conduct or code of ethics to the employee, contractor or third party. * Actions that can be anticipated, under the organization’s disciplinary process, as a consequence  of failure to observe security requirements. Additional pre-employment agreements †¢ Where appropriate, employees, contractors and third-party users should be required to sign, prior to being given access or other privileges to information or information processing facilities, additional: * confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements (see Confidentiality agreements); and/or * Acceptable use of assets agreements. Management responsibilities †¢ Management should require employees, contractors and third party users to apply security controls in accordance with established policies and procedures of the organization. This could include: * appropriately informing all employees, contractors and third party users of their information security roles and responsibilities, prior to granting access to sensitive information or information systems using Terms and conditions of employment. * providing all employees, contractors and third parties with guidelines/rules that state the security expectations of their roles within the organization; * achieving an appropriate level of awareness of security controls among all employees, contractors and third parties, relevant to their roles and responsibilities, * achieving an appropriate level of skills and qualifications, sufficient to execute those security controls. Assuring conformity to the terms and conditions of employment related to privacy and security; * motivating adherence to the privacy and security policies of the organization, such as with an appropriate sanctions policy; and * Mitigating the risks of a failure to adhere to policies, by ensuring that all persons have appropriately-limited access to the organization’s information and information facilities (see Authentication and access control). Information security awareness, education and training †¢ All employees of the organization, and, where relevant, contractors and third party users, should receive appropriate awareness training in and regular updates of organizational policies and procedures relevant to their job functions. This could include: * A formal training process that includes information privacy and security training, prior to being granted access to information or information systems. * Ongoing training in security control requirements, legal-regulatory -certificatory responsibilities, and generally accepted security procedures, suitable to the person’s rules and responsibilities. Disciplinary process †¢ There should be a formal disciplinary process for employees who have committed a security breach. This could include requirements for: * appropriate evidentiary standards to initiate investigations (e.g., â€Å"reasonable suspicion† that a breach has occurred); * appropriate investigatory processes, including specification of roles and responsibilities, standards for collection of evidence and chain of custody of evidence; * disciplinary proceedings that observe reasonable requirements for due process and quality of evidence; * reasonable evidentiary and burden-of-proof standards to determine fault, that ensure correct and fair treatment for persons suspected of a breach; and * sanctions that appropriately take into consideration factors such as the nature and gravity of the breach, its impact on operations, whether it is a first or repeat offense, whether or not the violator was appropriately trained, whether or not the violator exercised due care or exhibited negligence. Termination responsibilities †¢ Responsibilities and practices for performing employment termination or change of employment should be clearly defined and assigned. This could include: * termination processes that ensure removal of access to all information resources (see also Removal of access rights); * changes of responsibilities and duties within the organization processed as a termination (of the old position) and re-hire (to the new position), using standard controls for those processes unless otherwise indicated; * processes ensuring that other employees, contractors and third parties are appropriately informed of a person’s changed status; and any post-employment responsibilities are specified in the terms and conditions of employment, or a contractor’s or third party’s contract. Return of assets †¢ All employees, contractors and third parties should return all of the organization’s information and physical assets in their possession upon termination of the employment relationship or contract. This could include: * where the employee, contractor or third party uses personal equipment, requirements for secure erasure of software and data belonging to the organization. Removal of access rights †¢ Access rights to information and information processing facilities should be removed upon termination of the employment or contractual relationship. This could include: * changes of employment or contractual status include removal of all rights associated with prior roles and duties, and creation of rights  appropriate to the new roles and duties; * removal or reduction of access rights in a timely fashion; and * Removal or reduction of access rights prior to the termination, where risks indicate this step to be appropriate (e.g., where termination is initiated by the organization, or the access rights involve highly sensitive information or facilities. Bibliography Custom Security Policies.com. 2012. http://www.instantsecuritypolicy.com/it_policies_procedures.html?gclid=CI_U3_HmpboCFc-Y4AodInIAWg (accessed 10 20, 2013). Ledanidze, Evgeny. Guide to Developing a Cyber Security and Risk Mitigation Plan. 2011. http://www.smartgrid.gov/sites/default/files/doc/files/CyberSecurityGuideforanElectricCooperativeV11-2%5B1%5D.pdf (accessed 10 20, 2013). Risk Mitigation Planning Including Contingencies. http://www.incose.org/sfbac/armor/id12.htm (accessed 10 20, 2013).

War on Drugs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

War on Drugs - Research Paper Example This paper is a critical examination of the war on drugs in the United States and its effects in the country. Narcotics are a wide range of illegal drugs that are primarily used to influence and change the behavior or mood of the user. Chemically, narcotics are opium derivatives and they include drugs such morphine, heroin, cocaine, codeine among others (Roy, 41). Opiates and cocaine are the most valuable and profitable narcotics in the underworld economy. Narcotics are highly addictive, and they mainly function on the brain and the central nervous system where they reduce the intensity of unpleasant feelings such as pain and could produce euphoric sensations. In medicine, morphine, which is narcotic drug, is widely used to reduce chronic pain. Others narcotics applied in medicine include codeine and oxycodone for relieving pain in patients. Due to the addictive nature of these medically applied narcotics, the abuse of the prescription drugs is a growing concern in the United States (Acker, 57-69). History of Narcotics in United States Narcotics have an ancient history that dates back to the earliest civilization in Greece, Sumeria, Egypt and India among others. to Roy, opium, which is obtained from the poppy plant, played a major role in prehistoric medicine and pharmacy. The drug was mainly used for inducing sleep and as a general painkiller. In addition, the addictive and euphoric properties of opium encouraged people to use it as a recreational drug. The potent properties of opium increased its demand in the world and by 17th century, commercial production and trade in the drug was already established in the European continent. ... By eighteenth century, trade in opium was a very profitable venture because an increasing number of people had become addicted to the drug (72-96). The use of opium was no longer restricted to the rich and it soon became a commodity for mass consumption. Consequently, opium became an important source of revenue for various countries especially in Asia and Atlantic region. The main source of opium in United States in 20th century was China (Zabludoff, 49). Currently the main producers and suppliers of opiate drugs are Colombia, Mexico, Afghanistan and Pakistan (Chepesiuk, 68). Acker classifies the history of narcotics use in the United States in three distinct periods, from 1860 to 1910, 1910 to 1950 and from 1950 to the present (63). In the United States, the period from 1860 to 1910 was characterized by the outbreak of the civil war, which started in 1861 and ended in 1865. During the war, large-scale use of narcotics was noted among the combatants (Acker, 105). The medicinal and ad dictive properties of the drug elicited intensive research from pharmaceutical companies such as the giant pharmaceutical company Bayer. In 1874, chemists from Bayer successfully isolated heroin from morphine. During the period, addiction to morphine had become a major concern in Europe and United States. A growing number of people had become dependant on the drug, resulting to low productivity and increasing level of crime (Roy, 38). Therefore, the medical fraternity hoped that heroin, would cure morphine addiction. The successful synthesis of heroin from morphine well received in the market and the narcotic was promoted as â€Å"a wonder drug† (Musto, 55). The commercial promotion

Movie review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Movie review - Essay Example The archival footage and McNamara’s interview highlight the lessons learnt from the wars and provide insights into the international relations and security issues of America. When we saw the movie, we draw some very sound conclusions regarding McNamara’s body language. We see a man admitting his sheer blunders regarding the important political decisions whose repercussions ranged from Vietnam to Japan, causing thousands of deaths and saved the world from annihilation of nuclear war by sheer luck not because of intelligence information. The people would definitely agree that the crimes he committed are completely unforgiving and unforgettable. His decisions regarding life and death are themselves a depiction of painful humility for him as depicted in the documentary. Although McNamara admits that he has been terribly wrong with reference to Vietnam War and could have done more to redirect the decision of president’s office, but he does not say sorry although Morris tried to prompt him. This shows his stubborn and pride in himself. On one side, he seems to be regretful but on the other side; he is justifying the decisions which caused mammoth human loss. The movie comes up with eleven lessons learnt from the life of McNamara. But the one lesson seems to be very inappropriate i.e. in order to do something good, you may have to engage in evil. This statement comes up as the justification from McNamara for his horrendous decisions in the cruise missile conflict, Vietnam and Japan wars but history vehemently reveals that nothing good came out after engaging in the evil in case of McNamara. In the movie, many times it appears that Morris as director is trying to symbolize one life of McNamara to illustrate the other as an active and passive actor of the history where he has participated in the war as a witness and an actor too. Morris has tried to illustrate the

Marketing planning for Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Marketing planning for Starbucks - Essay Example People enjoy coffee while reading books, listening music or just gossip with friends and family. Specifically matching the regional culture and taste, the company strategically placed their products. It was one amongst the Fortune 100 top companies in the year 2005 to work for . Section 1: Marketing Audits Organizational Audit In order to understand the company’s strength and weaknesses, opportunity and threats the SWOT analysis of the firm has been performed to find the internal and the external environmental situation of the company. SWOT Analysis Strength Product diversification- huge range of products like coffee, baked foods, music cds etc. Well known developed brand image with online presence and copyright logo. The company has their own retail and international stores and don’t depend on franchisee. The locations of the stores are very strategically placed to attract more customers. †¢ The locations of the stores are very strategically placed to attract more customers. With good working environment the company possess valued and very motivated workforce. The company have good relation with the suppliers of Coffee and other requirements. Starbucks is the market leader of the Coffee industry. Customers are loyal to the brand The company is located internationally Starbucks has a very strong financial establishment which helps the company to invest in the process of expansion. Weaknesses The company is less focused in its internal processes rather it mainly concentrates on the expansion plans. The growing market and modern lifestyle of people are growing demand for new competitors in the market which can’t be controlled by the company. Too many shops within a small area can affect the business. The products offered by Starbucks are little expensive than its competitors thus it’s a weakness for the company to grab the budget market. Opportunities The company has great opportunity to enter the retail market with its expansion plan. Technological advancement can bring new techniques to manage their processes. The company can introduce new distribution channel and start delivery service for the customers directly to their place. New product development is another opportunity for the firm to grab the market with its new launch. Emerging market outside the country into developing nation can be a very good prospect for the company. Starbucks can ex pand in many more areas even within the country thus domestic market can also be a good opportunity for the firm. Threats The growing competition from restaurants, supermarkets, and other coffee shops offering same kind of products to the customers and other coffee products are the major threats for the company. The U.S market is reaching its saturation point which will restrict the firms plan for farther expansion in the market. The instability of the Coffee price in developing countries can be difficult for the firm to maintain its price policy constant for all the countries where the company operates. In supplying countries of coffee beans the farmers are not well treated and thus results in

Covenants of God with His Children. Pentateuch discussion Research Paper

Covenants of God with His Children. Pentateuch discussion - Research Paper Example Throughout the Old Testament are historical covenants which advance and refine the Covenants of Redemption and Grace. In another perspective of Covenant Theology, the Covenant of Redemption is without evidence, the Covenant of Grace is implicit as the main covenant, and the historical covenants reflect different administrations of the Covenant of Grace. A third perspective of Covenant Theology is that, since the Bible does not specifically refer to any covenants of redemption, works or grace, it is more scripturally accurate to see all covenants as historical, and to see god’s plan of redemption/grace as an overarching purpose, but not specifically as covenants. This paper will discuss these major areas, as well as the historical covenants, as they are found throughout the sections of the Old Testament (Pentateuch, Historical Books, Poetical Books, and Prophesy), shaping Christian understanding and appreciation of the fulfillment of God’s purpose through Old Testament t imes, transitioning our understanding readiness, and application of covenant truths in the New Testament. A covenant is a promise, a contract of protocol, which outlines specific expectations and outcomes of keeping and breaking the expectations, binding on all parties and descendents. In the case of God’s covenants with people, God dictates the terms. The Covenant of Works was established with Adam and Eve, in Eden. God’s instruction was explicit. Adam was told to name the animals and to be a steward over God’s creation. God commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. They were invited to partake of the abundance of paradise, but were forbidden to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The latter stipulation had a consequence of death, for violation of terms. Freewill obedience demonstrates faith. In exchange for abiding by this covenant, God gave them eternal life in a perfect paradise, control over plants and animals in the garden, protection, and God’s own companionship and love. This covenant was binding on Adam and Eve and all descendants, even to us. When Eve was persuaded by Satan to eat forbidden fruit, and Adam also accepted from Eve, because of Satan’s false rationalization about God’s motivation and agenda, sinful choice separated them from God and paradise, but also separated us from God and paradise. The consequence of death and suffering that became theirs also became ours. There are two kinds of covenants which God makes with man: conditional and unconditional (Warren, 2000). Conditional covenants are where God says what he will provide â€Å"if† people will do what he instructs them to do, and to not do what he instructs them to not do. The Covenant of Works is a conditional covenant (Warren, 2000). The Covenant of Grace, however, was an unconditional covenant (Warren, 2000). There was no â€Å"if† clause. God made a gift, no strings attached. His gift was to send his son, Jesus, to be born without sin (as the child of God), to live a life without sin, and to die as a sacrifice for all the sin ever committed and all the sin ever to be committed by everyone everywhere. This was nothing we could earn, because we had already failed that test, through Adam and Eve, already shown that we would use our free choice in a wrong way. The consequence of death was part of the contract. Only Jesus could pay it, and he willingly did so, and God willingly sent Him. The Covenant of Redemption is the everlasting agreement, within the Godhead, before history began, for Jesus, the Son, to be born as a man, to live a life of obedience to the law and to God, and die a sacrificial death to atone for human sin. This agreement was powered by the Holy Spirit. This can be seen as a covenantal arrangement

EXAM 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

EXAM 2 - Essay Example The process comprises of three, which include procedural due process, substantive due process and equation protection of law (Hunter 34). Due process aids in protecting the accused from denied his or her primary rights without undergoing impartial and adequate informed legal process. These rights encompass those related to liberty, life and property (Hunter 35). Hence, prevent influential people from using state’s powers given by constitution as a platform to the disadvantage of fellow citizens. In addition, it plays an indispensable role in granting the accused to defend oneself according to the law and for the court to hear his or her plea as well as argument concerning presented charges. Consequently, leading to a fair judgment without the court favoring any of the sides especially the accused because prosecution cites the convicted has done an intolerable wrongdoing. The essence of due process also prompts masses to have confidence and trust with the judicial system as well as other regime institutions because one is sure he or she will receive fair

Carriage of goods by sea under Charter Party Case Study

Carriage of goods by sea under Charter Party - Case Study Example The ship owner is also liable for the ship's under capacity and lower-speed than declared to TD. On the other hand the charterer TD is liable to the shippers for the damage caused by fire to the cargo of Smart Clothing which he can claim from the Ship Owner. This could be possibly circumvented by having the shippers' insurance claim settled and ultimately transfer the liability to the Ship owner. The sub-charterer BV similarly can have the insurance claim of V for damage to cargo while loading and ultimately have the liability transferred to ship owner through TD the main charterer. And the parties who want to initiate claim against the owner, may do so by invoking arbitration as envisaged by the Charter party agreement in clause 21. This case relates to rights and liabilities of parties under the contract of charter party for carriage of goods by sea. The six parties involved are 1)Charterer (Timely Delivery hereafter 'TD', 2)Owner of ship 'The Bulky Whirlwind' (Owners Co) hereafter 'O', 3)Cargo Co, hereafter 'C', 4) Voyage SARL, hereafter 'BV' 5)Vignoble SARl, hereafter 'V', and 6) Smart Clothing Co, hereafter 'SC'. As against the ship's declared carrying capacity of 12,000 TEU and speed capability of 23 knots, 2000 TEU are occupied by articles of ship's own essential use and speed is short of 3-7 knots. Ship's master refuses to take the shorter and direct route and also to pick up cargo located in the shorter route ordered by TD.for safety reasons. The crew member's careless smoking damages a cargo valued $ 300 000 by fire for which there was no safety trained staff for fire fighting. Due to arrest of the ship, 10 days are lost by stay at the port of Southampton. It is noted Box No 35 in form of Charter party is left blank. The relevant box relates to applicable Law and Arbitration. The form provides that if the box is not filled in, sub clause (a) of condition no 21 of Charter parry form shall apply. The relevant condition is reproduced below.1 Charter party is contract between the owner of a ship and a hirer of the ship for using it to transport usually cargo. Even though the hirer is using the ship, the ship-owner exercises control over it for the navigation and management while the carrying capacity is in the discretion of the hirer known as charterer. Four types of chartering in vogue are voyage charter, time charter, bareboat charter and lump-sum contract. 2 "A time charter is another common form of agreement, with the owner of the ship operating his ship as instructed by the charterer between certain agreed dates for an agreed daily or monthly rate. During this period, it will be the charterer who will pay for the running costs of the ship such as the fuel and insurance. An analogy would be a contract to hire a car".3 A cursory glance at the conditions set out in the Charter party form reveals Master failure to carry out Chatterer's instruction to take Suez route amounts to violation of condition no 7 ( c )4 of the Charter Party. And damage due to Owner's servant's smoking inside attracts condition no 18(iii) (3)5 The Charterer is also entitled to 10 days off-hire for the arrest of the vessel due to C's claim for O's default in a previous charter attracting Hague-Visby rules and far having lost time (to be estimated) due to longer route as per condition

Implementation of an IT Project †A First Hand Account Essay Example for Free

Implementation of an IT Project – A First Hand Account Essay With innovation of computers, the business world is changing very fast as seen during the last 3 decades. Due to the advances in IT and Communications technology, the world has become a global village. The business opportunities have multiplied due to opening up of global markets. But so have the challenges. No economy is isolated or transparent from rest of the economies. Industries are expected to offer custom designed products at most competitive rates in shortest possible time. Even the multinational organizations operating in many countries across the world have been facing these challenges. One of the answers to these challenges they have been relying upon is to introduce Information Communications Technology in their organizations and leverage upon them to meet these challenges. In this document, we describe a case of one company in a country. This company was a part of a US based multinational group which decided to implement Oracle e Business 11i suite at all its units worldwide so as to consolidate required information at its headquarters at US. To comply with the requirement, this unit also decided to implement Oracle e Business Suite at its plant offices. How this implementation was planned, what were the objectives, what measures were taken to ensure conformity with the project plan, how the changeover to new software was planned, how the business associates were affected and what steps were initiated to ensure that the envisaged benefits actually accrue, is described in this document. Also various activities right from the initiation of the project, the project organization, roles and responsibilities, communications and reporting with the principals are also described. Implementation of an IT Project – A First Hand Account : EXCEL Auto Components Pvt Ltd EACL (a hypothetical name) is a part of a multinational EXCEL Group having its headquarters in US and group companies located all over the world. The Group is engaged in manufacture of engines, compressors, generating sets automobile components worldwide. EACL is engaged in manufacture of Automobile and engine components. Much of the orders received by EACL being repeat orders, are based on exiting design and technology. Besides these, there are sizable number of orders based on the same technology but involve a fresh design and prototype development, before the commercial production takes place. EACL is a subsidiary company of Excel Industries Ltd EIL which the main company of the group within the country. EIL centralizes many activities of the group and looks after these activities of the group companies in that country. Information Communication Technology is one of such activities which EIL handles for all group companies in the country. EIL handles IT Infrastructure management, Software Applications Management and other related activities for all group companies in the country. Recently the Corporate HQ at US has announced a decision to standardize on Business Application Software, directing all group companies worldwide to implement and switch over to Oracle 11i e Business Suite within a period of 18 months. Accordingly all companies had implemented and switched over to Oracle 11i except for EACL where the implementation had to be called of for various reasons, lack of in-house IT staff being one of them. Later on it was taken up once again. This time EIL Looked for an IT Consultant to be placed on site with the total responsibility of implementing Oracle 11i, with the help of Functional Consultants from EIL and a cross functional team of users from EACL. A person was found suitable and was placed on site at EACL to handle complete, end to end implementation of this project. He was to report to Lies Program Manager and was to be assisted by a Project Team comprising of 6 Functional Consultants from EIL and 5 Key Users from EACL, drawn from relevant functional areas. While EIL consultants had prior experience of Oracle ii1 implementation in their own company, EACL Consultants did not have any experience even of other ERP Products or any other applications. They – like most other users of EACL, had an exposure limited only to Microsoft Office Suite. However, most of them were young, fresh Mechanical Engineers very enthusiastic about the project. Similarly for EIL also this was their maiden experience to implement Oracle 11i at a company other than their own company. So everyone was totally charged up to take up this challenge. The assignment was clear for the Project Manager. Oracle 11i e Business Suite comprising of Financial, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management and Order Management Modules was required to be implemented within a time frame of 6 calendar months with the help of the Project Team assigned. CEO of EACL was fully backing this project and he had publicly instructed two senior most managers at the site – Plant Head and Finance Controller – to ensure full support resource commitments to the project. The Project implementation required to covered Plant as well as a Marketing office located in two different cities. CEO was also located in the Marketing Office. Objectives : The Objectives set out for the project included 20% reduction in investment in Inventory due to savings in inventory carrying cost and improvement in the planning process, Reduction in throughput time by 20% (increase i production sales and improvement in sales margins), Fast Order Execution with 90% on time delivery. Another significant objective was Confirming to standardization as laid down by the corporate group so as to facilitate group consolidation of information. Besides, the changeover was required to be transparent to the outside world i. e. the Business Associates. Investment : Since EACL was already running a home grown ERP Product, it already had in place the Client PCs, LAN, connectivity to EIL where Oracle 11i server was located. Some augmentation of resources like PCs printers, up-gradation of the bandwidth was required. EIL had already accounted for and arranged for the Software Licenses for ERP RDBMS Products for all group companies in the country. Fresh investment called for was related to the Fees payable to the Project Manager and the visits by the EIL functional team for implementation. How well the project met its investment objectives and what mechanisms would you suggest to allow ongoing evaluation of benefits realization? The Project Objectives were met very well. A fresh Bill of Materials was designed for regular items to be produced. Items requiring design development were defined separately in BOM. While this introduced some redundancy in the BOM, this resulted into reduction of many duplicated items from the BOM and thereby, from the stock. This drastically reduced the investment needed in Inventory. Items needed for development production were segregated such that production items do not get consumed in development vice-versa. The production cycle was mapped to a production process that had certain in-between milestones where items were issued and quality checks were performed. This resulted in reducing the number of days for which an item was stocked and also, control further movement of the semi finished product in case of a quality problem, such that the same could be reprocessed, rechecked for quality and forwarded only if the quality problem was resolved. Earlier the quality problem got detected only at the end of production cycle resulting in much more wastage of material, labor overheads. Marketing Manufacturing had more informed and accurate judgment of the cost and time estimates for a product at the time of accepting an order. Improved control over production process along with more accurate promise of delivery resulted in 90% on time deliveries. In case of a quality problem, only the immediately preceding steps needed to be repeated upsetting only that part of the process as against upsetting the entire process earlier. This also resulted in fewer rejections or defects in the production. Linking Sales Order right from planning stage till invoice dispatch advice virtually eliminated misplaced deliveries or wrong products being delivered. With more accurate accounting and posting of transactions, carrying out physical stock taking less frequently was also a possibility. All this was accompanied by a complete visibility over entire production process to the plant head. In this way, the project actually exceeded the anticipated benefits. Post implementation, certain benchmarks for performance were decided and periodically the cumulative actual performance was measured based upon these benchmarks. For example, Regular and extra hours needed for given quantum of production, reduction in inventory, on time delivery %, i. E delivery performance, value added during a period. Appropriate reports were designed and made available to the Finance Controller, Plant Head and the CEO. The effectiveness of stakeholder engagement activities during the project. Employees and Heads of all Departments including the Plant Head the Finance Controller were among the stakeholders. However, the main stakeholder was the CEO – he had sanctioned the investment, worked out what benefits to expect how, had a calculation of no of days within which the changeover had to be completed (termed Black Out period) and regular operations resumed on the new system. Business associates were not to be caused any disturbance due to the change over (excepting a blackout period of 5 days) and above all, a project of a given size and complexity affecting every employee in every corner of the organization had to be completed as scheduled with mathematical precision. The main stakeholder that is the CEO took a lot of interest and a keen interest in every aspect of the project. He participated in understanding, reviewing approving the requirements formulated, understood how the prototype presented offered to fulfill these requirements, he provided directions to the project team and other employees regards various activities related with the project, intervened whenever a help was sought in anticipation of a bottleneck or a deviation apprehended from the plan. He always had a positive contribution to offer in terms of identifying typical scenarios that might be encountered or regards the training of the end users or in ensuring 100% and timely attendance of the members in all project events. This propagated a clear message across that the project has to be completed, on time and with contribution from everyone with no exception and zero tolerance. He always supported implementation of new ideas like maintenance of Time Sheets for the Project Team or conducting tests to assess the learning of the trainees. He mandated the contribution to this project by an employee be counted during the periodic appraisals. In all his communications with the employees he never failed to stress the importance of the project, praising efforts of those who did well and pulling up the laggards, warning them to come up to expectations. He studied every fortnightly report with interest and took appropriate action based upon the same in time. He also attended every review presentation and tried to bring out the maximum from everyone. He ensured that not only he himself but also the Plant Head and Finance Controller provided immediate response to Project Team Members for any help or intervention desired. The same spirit was displayed both by the Plant Head as well as by the Finance Controller. They arranged for all required resources to be made available for the team. What provision was made during the development phase to facilitate roll-out during the implementation stage, and how effective this was ? Many provisions were made during the development phase to ensure a smooth roll out during the implementation stage. The provisions were related with the systems as well as with the operations. Systems : A training to the EACL Consultants was provided on the product right at the beginning of the project. Thereafter they were closely associated with the corresponding members of the CIL Team in related functions to learn from them. They were asked to take up the initiative to develop the Operational Manual for their functional area which was reviewed and finalized in consultation with EIL Consultants. They were made responsible for testing the prototype against the requirements by way of test data, preparing test data visualizing typical exceptional â€Å"scenarios† that might be encountered, carrying out an integrated testing covering certain transactions encompassing all functional areas and finally, the load testing to assess the capability of the infrastructure to sustain the number of concurrent users envisaged. They also imparted training to the end users so that they are better prepared themselves and develop a sound knowledge. They also assessed the performance of the end users by setting up question papers for these trainees. Hardware and Software requirements considering the eventual number of users was reviewed and necessary enhancements were carried out to make the infrastructure adequate for live run. Document forms and preprinted stationery in line with the standardization requirements were designed and procured in time before the switchover. Menu Access Permissions and Transaction Authorization Set Up was designed and set up in the software. Operations : There was a blackout period required to complete the processing in the old system, transfer the balances masters to the new system and resume operations in the new system. The CEO insisted that this must not exceed 5 days failing which the business may be adversely affected. As regards the provisions made in operations, certain actions were planned to be taken and completed before the commencement of the blackout period e. g. clearing deliveries against all sales orders. Certain actions were suspended for the duration of the blackout period i. e. placing fresh purchase orders or accepting deliveries. All Business Associates were informed about the changeover and the black out period preceding it to enable them to plan their activities accordingly. A detailed meeting was conducted between the Project Team, Finance Controller and the Plant Head along with all Departmental Heads and an elaborate plan of action naming the concerned responsible person was chalked out well before the beginning of the black out period. This eventually resulted into a smooth changeover with no adverse impact on the Business associates – all within a black out period of 3 days against the 5 days planned. How effective were the governance and reporting arrangements, particularly in assuring delivery to time, budget and quality, and how were key stakeholders involved – both formally and informally – in these arrangement ? There was plenty of information maintenance and reporting but the tempo set by the project never made it look like a burden. Plenty of reporting was carried out to different groups in different ways. Firstly the Project Team was made to sit close to each other to facilitate communication between them. There used to be a meeting among the team members everyday where required information on current status against the plan was exchanged. In addition, the Team Members submitted a Time Sheet giving hour wise break up of total activities planned for the day and actually carried out This constituted a critical input regards the progress of work and helped in promptly identifying potential bottlenecks and deviations for initiating suitable action. In addition, there was a meeting every day between the Project Teams of EACL CIL even if they were not at the same location. The Project Manager had a daily round of appraising the Program manager about the status of activities. In addition, Project Manager maintained a day wise information on different event / developments in the project and periodically shared the same in confidence with the Program Manager by way of an informal reporting. A weekly progress report was submitted by the Project Manager to the CEO, Plant Head, Finance Controller, Program Manager, Infrastructure Manager. Both the progress along with the anticipated bottlenecks along with remedial action planned were reflected in the report. Periodic Presentations were delivered to CEO in presence of all Departmental Heads including the Plant Head Finance Controller wherein the progress, forthcoming activities and anticipated problems and their solutions were discussed. A Centralized Project Database was maintained by IT Group at US for all IT Projects initiated worldwide. Periodically at the end of every milestone all relevant documents as prescribed in the Project Methodology were submitted to this database. This was followed by a presentation made to the Steering Committee Members comprising of senior personnel from EACL, CIL US HQ. Only upon receiving approval for a phase, the next phase was entered into. Daily interactions with Project Team with the help of Time Sheets led to assessment of the progress. Interactions between two Project Teams brought out further tasks to be initiated and provided an idea about the time estimates and criticality. Reporting to Program Manager, CEO Steering Committee resulted in receiving guidance regards the project and eliminating the bottlenecks and problems. Presentations with CEO ensured cooperation from all Departments. Thus every formal or informal communication or reporting had served its intended purpose. Besides this, there always was a freedom to make a need based call to anyone with appropriate response and action sure to come by. While the project involved a lot of work, called for detailed planning and close monitoring and had many complexities, it was also not without the lighter moments. Following every milestone, there was required to be a get together of the Project Teams and he Departmental Heads where a lot of formal and informal interaction used to take place making its own contribution to the success of the project. Scheduling such a get together following each milestone was also a part of the project plan and a subject of Project Review ! The project management methodology used and its contribution to the success (or otherwise) of the project. The Project Management Methodology followed was one that was developed by the IT Department of the Corporate IT Group itself and broadly, it was a prototype oriented methodology. It was a tried and tested methodology already put into practice at the group companies within the country. Among the very first activities in the project was to depute the Project Manager for undergoing a training on this methodology and specifically, the documentation which was standardized across all companies in the world within the group. This methodology made everything so simple to understand and help ensuring that once we start religiously practicing the methodology, we did not miss out on anything in the course of the project. Particularly noteworthy in the methodology was a process of IT Requests Management. It handled the entire process from initiating an it request to providing all required details about it to seeking and enabling required authorizations, assigning the work till completion, testing certification of the results, configuration management and finally, approving the satisfactory completion of the IT Request by the request initiator. Entire process was handled by a software, which facilitated electronic approvals to the requests. This process accepted only those IT Requests which were backed by relevant details, having appropriate authorization from the concerned departmental heads, feasibility assessment by the Functional Technical Consultants, approval by the IT Program Manager assignment of the same to functional / technical consultant for compliance. Once completed, the relevant software was tested on a separate system, approved by the IT Program Manager and only thereafter the software was allowed to be transferred to the production server. Finally the initiator of the request was required to confirm that the request has been complied with to his satisfaction – a precondition for treating it to be completed. Thus Change Management was appropriately controlled in the project. The Documents to be maintained for the project related with the quality aspects, risk assessment and mitigation, investments, benefits anticipated, project plan, impact on IT Infrastructure currently in use, manpower currently deployed so on – in short, touching all aspects that are concerning the project. The Group IT Dept at US had a Project Document Repository where the documents were required to be posted before each Steering Committee Meeting. This enforced appropriate handling of quality, risk, time, investment, benefits other aspects to be clearly defined beforehand and their achievement during the course of the project. The Project phases also included a Post Production Review phase where the post implementation benefits were compared with the anticipated benefits. As regards this project, requirements were collected and a prototype developed so as to fulfill the requirements. The prototype was demonstrated and further tuned based upon the feedback of the end users. Next, the prototype was given to the end users for testing – testing with test data, testing with specific â€Å"scenarios† prepared to test typical conditions or situations anticipated. This was followed by an integration testing i. e. testing encompassing multiple functions to test the integration and finally, the load testing to measure the adequacy of the infrastructure to support the given number of users as envisaged. After such exhaustive testing and based upon the feedback received, the prototype was fine tuned and the software set up for production. Conclusion : The Oracle 11i e Business implementation was already planned as to what needs to be implemented, how and within what time ! It touched almost all employees in all functions at all offices of the organization. The time allowed for changeover was limited to 5 days. The in-house Key Users were with no major exposure to IT and especially, ERP. Every milestone was required to be reviewed and approved by the IT Team at US the Steering Committee. All this called for a very detailed planning and an extremely time bound execution with hardly any scope for deviation. The eventual consolidation with Group Headquarters and visibility over complete data by them made it totally transparent to them, also making quality assurance a pre-requisite. Obviously with most of the major investment having already been made, the project was required to be completed within the budget. To ensure a smooth implementation, major thrust came from the CEO and continued throughout the implementation. The determining factor that led to the success of the project was the high motivational level of the project team which could be raised and sustained throughout the project. Once this was achieved, execution of every project activity became a simple affair. Another major factor was the anticipation of bottlenecks and problems raised by the Project Manager initiation of actions to control the same. Emphasis on preparation and testing of scenarios eliminated chances of facing any surprises after the implementation. Detailed planning carried out for the black out period was a significant step in ensuring a quick and smooth changeover. Thus the Project was a grand success story !

The Sustainability of Professionalism in Print Journalism in the 21st Century Essay Example for Free

The Sustainability of Professionalism in Print Journalism in the 21st Century Essay Introduction Professionalism in print journalism is being redefined by the tremendous connectivity and widespread use of the Internet in the 21st Century. This state of being is unique to the journalism industry in that is considered to be recidivism from the professional to the amateur. The case of UK print journalism is considered to describe how this has come to be. Professionalism in general is defined as the organization of an industry or profession into a cohesive group with established standards of practice, a code of conduct or ethics and a well-defined structure recognized by the general population and regulated by the government in which members practice.    Professional journalists in particular are required to have qualified from a recognized institution for journalists, licensed by the professional regulation commission and accredited by a recognized association of journalists. However, professionalism in journalism as defined in sociological debate fails to take into account the history that led to the development of the professions. Professions in the UK have developed in an upward fashion, a series of actions that occur without pre-emption and securing professional status as a result. The organization and administration of UK professional services is peculiar to that country, in contrast with the downward orientation of the German professions. (Neal and Morgan, 2000) In this essay, a brief history of British print journalism will be described and recent developments will be taken into account to illustrate how technological innovations have affected journalism and the concept of professionalism. For the purpose of this paper, the term journalism refers specifically to print journalism and journalist or journalists refer to person or group of people in print journalism. History of British journalism In the UK, journalism had developed in an upward orientation. The original spread of news was affected by ordinary citizens in the pursuit of their regular occupations, perhaps as merchants or sales clerks. Some news found itself in print in the weekly news books that served as newspapers during this time but circulation was limited. The onset of the industrial revolution in the mid 19th Century resulted in printing and distribution capabilities that made journalism big business. The rotary printing press, cheap paper and mass literacy led to the rise of mass media. (Wallace, 2006) But as early as the 17th Century, newspapers were already being published in Europe, but the right to print in England was strictly regulated. It took a foreigner from Amsterdam, Joris Veseler to produce the first English-language newspaper in 1620. By 1665, the news book style papers ceased printing with the publication of the Oxford Gazette as the first official journal of record and the Crown newspaper, eventually renamed the London Gazette. By the time of the abolition of the Star Chamber, printing restrictions were lifted, especially at the advent of the Civil War, when news became a precious commodity. Duties paid for paper products and stamps were progressively reduced from the 1830s which encouraged the mass dissemination of newspapers in the country. There were 52 London newspapers in the first quarter of the 19th century, including the two most influential for that period, The Daily University Register, later to become The Times, and The Manchester Guardian, later to be renamed The Guardian. By 1855, newspapers with more mass appeal made its appearance as The Daily Telegraph and Courier, shortening its name to The Daily Telegraph. The first instance of yellow journalism, defined as the sensationalism or tabloidism that proliferated with the rise of partisan newspapers occurred between 1860 and 1910, also the period of the rise of socialist and labour newspapers. The term yellow journalism arose from the circulation battle between Joseph Pulitzer’s The World and William Randolph Hearst’s Journal both in the city of New York. The Daily Herald, the first labour union newspaper, saw the light of day in 1912. The 20th Century and World War I was the scene of the first big newspaper moguls headed by the Harmsworth Brothers and the Berry Brothers and later Max Aitken. The first tabloid newspapers emerged after World War II, dominated in 1963 by Cecil Harmsworth King of the International Publishing House, publishing more than 200 newspapers and magazines, including the record-breaking Daily Mirror. By the 20th century, Fleet Street had become the centre for the British national press, at one time housing over a dozen major daily newspapers with diverse political stances. These included the liberal The Guardian, conservative The Daily Telegraph and Labour party advocate Daily Mirror. However, in the 1980s, the publications started moving away, the last hold-out being British news office Reuters, who moved out in 2005. Professional journalism As earlier mentioned, technological innovations enabled the mass production and distribution of news, which became a lucrative undertaking. This mass circulation gave journalist a wide audience they could influence because most people believe what they read in the papers. At first, the press took on the role as a social conscience, providing the masses with information about what the government and big businesses are doing. But as the resistance to press freedom intensified, the journalistic claim that â€Å"the public has the right to know† gave rise to abuse of press freedom by irresponsible journalists, seeking to raise circulation by publishing   sensationalist articles. In response, legitimate journalists joined forces to impose rigorous standards for investigation and reporting, developing an ethical framework based on impartiality, accuracy, transparency and objectivity. (â€Å"New media journalism: how professional reporters are being influenced by the internet,† 2006) Some critics of this structure maintain that objectivity in journalism is a paradox. What is reported is based on the subjective selection of the journalist of what is in important information, a view that may differ from one journalist to the other. (Media Lens, 2005)   However, The National Union of Journalists even claims that recent attempts by the Press Complaints Commission to improve the Code of Practice for journalism fall short of the ethical standards established by the NUJ and followed by all its members. (â€Å"NUJ Code of Conduct is still stricter than PCC guidelines,† 2007) The following tables encompass the codes as embodied in the PCC and NUJ. Table I: CODE OF PRACTICE (Ratified by the Press Complaints Commission 26th November 1997) Source: http://www.uta.fi/ethicnet/uk2.html All members of the press have a duty to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards. This code sets the benchmarks for those standards. It both protects the rights of the individual and upholds the publics right to know. The code is the cornerstone of the system of self-regulation to which the industry has made a binding commitment. Editors and publishers must ensure that the code is observed rigorously not only by their staff but also by anyone who contributes to their publications. It is essential to the workings of an agreed code that it be honoured not only to the letter but in the full spirit. The code should not be interpreted so narrowly as to compromise its commitment to respect the rights of the individual, nor so broadly that it prevents publication in the public interest. It is the responsibility of editors to co-operate with the PCC as swiftly as possible in the resolution of complaints. Any publication which is criticised by the PCC. under one of the following clauses must print the adjudication which follows in full and with due prominence The public interest There may be exceptions to the clauses marked * where they can be demonstrated to be in the public interest. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The public interest includes: i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Detecting or exposing crime or a serious misdemeanour. ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Protecting public health and safety. iii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Preventing the public from being misled by some statement or action of an individual or organisation. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In any case where the public interest is invoked, the Press Complaints Commission will require a full explanation by the editor demonstrating how the public interest was served. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In cases involving children, editors must demonstrate an exceptional public interest to over-ride the normally paramount interests of the child. 1. Accuracy i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Newspapers and periodicals should take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted material including pictures. ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whenever it is recognised that a significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distorted report has been published, it should be corrected promptly and with due prominence. iii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An apology must be published whenever appropriate. iv)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Newspapers, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact v)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A newspaper or periodical must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party. 2. Opportunity to reply A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies must be given to individuals or organisations when reasonably called for. 3. Privacy* i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence. A publication will be expected to justify intrusions into any individuals private life without consent ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The use of long lens photography to take pictures of people in private places without their consent is unacceptable. Note Private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. 4. Harassment* i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Journalists and photographers must neither obtain nor seek to obtain information or pictures through intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They must not photograph individuals in private places (as defined by the note to clause 3) without their consent; must not persist in telephoning, questioning, pursuing or photographing individuals after having been asked to desist; must not remain on their property after having been asked to leave and must not follow them. iii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Editors must ensure that those working for them comply with these requirements and must not publish material from other sources which does not meet these requirements. 5. Intrusion into grief or shock In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries should be carried out and approaches made with sympathy and discretion. Publication must be handled sensitively at such times but this should not be interpreted as restricting the right to report judicial proceedings. 6.Children* i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion. ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Journalists must not interview or photograph a child under the age of 16 on subjects involving the welfare of the child or any other child in the absence of or without the consent of a parent or other adult who is responsible for the children. iii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pupils must not be approached or photographed while at school without the permission of the school authorities. iv)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There must be no payment to minors for material involving the welfare of children nor payments to parents or guardians for material about their children or wards unless it is demonstrably in the childs interest. v)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Where material about the private life of a child is published, there must be justification for publication other than the fame, notoriety or position of his or her parents or guardian. 7. Children in sex cases 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The press must not, even where the law does not prohibit it, identify children under the age of 16 who are involved in cases concerning sexual offences, whether as victims or as witnesses. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In any press report of a case involving a sexual offence against a child i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The child must not be identified. ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The adult may be identified. iii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The word incest must not be used where a child victim might be identified. iv)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Care must be taken that nothing in the report implies the relationship between the accused and the child. 8. Listening Devices* Journalists must not obtain or publish material obtained by using clandestine listening devices or by intercepting private telephone conversations. 9. Hospitals* i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Journalists or photographers making enquiries at hospitals or similar institutions should identify themselves to a responsible executive and obtain permission before entering non-public areas. ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to enquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions. 10. Innocent relatives and friends* The press must avoid identifying relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime without their consent. 11. Misrepresentation* i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Journalists must not generally obtain or seek to obtain information or pictures through misrepresentation or subterfuge. ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Documents or photographs should be removed only with the consent of the owner. iii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Subterfuge can be justified only in the public interest and only when material cannot be obtained by any other means. 12. Victims of sexual assault The press must not identify victims of sexual assault or publish material likely to contribute to such identification unless there is adequate justification and, by law, they are free to do so. 13. Discrimination i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to a persons race, colour, religion, sex or sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability. ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It must avoid publishing details of a persons race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability unless these are directly relevant to the story. 14. Financial journalism i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even where the law does not prohibit it, journalists must not use for their own profit financial information they receive in advance of its general publication, nor should they pass such information to others. ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They must not write about shares or securities in whose performance they know that they or their close families have a significant financial interest without disclosing the interest to the editor or financial editor. iii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They must not buy or sell, either directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities about which they have written recently or about which they intend to write in the near future. 15. Confidential sources Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources of information. 16. Payment for articles* i)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Payment or offers of payment for stories or information must not be made directly or through agents to witnesses or potential witnesses in current criminal proceedings except where the material concerned ought to be published in the public interest and there is an overriding need to make or promise to make a payment for this to be done. Journalists must take every possible step to ensure that no financial dealings have influence on the evidence that those witnesses may give. (An editor authorising such a payment must be prepared to demonstrate that there is a legitimate public interest at stake involving matters that the public has a right to know. The payment or, where accepted, the offer of payment to any witness who is actually cited to give evidence should be disclosed to the prosecution and the defence and the witness should be advised of this). ii)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ii) Payment or offers of payment for stories, pictures or information, must not be made directly or through agents to convicted or confessed criminals or to their associates who may include family, friends and colleagues except where the material concerned ought to be published in the public interest and payment is necessary for this to be done. Table II: CODE OF CONDUCT Adopted on 29 June 1994 by British National Union of Journalists (NUJ). Source: http://www.uta.fi/ethicnet/uk.html A journalist has a duty to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards. A journalist shall at all times defend the principle of the freedom of the press and other media in relation to the collection of information and the expression of comment and criticism. He/she shall strive to eliminate distortion, news suppression and censorship. A journalist shall strive to ensure that the information he/ she disseminates is fair and accurate, avoid the expression of comment and conjecture as established fact and falsification by distortion, selection or misrepresentation. A journalist shall rectify promptly any harmful inaccuracies, ensure that correction and apologies receive due prominence and afford the right of reply to persons criticised when the issue is of sufficient importance. A journalist shall obtain information, photographs and illustrations only by straight- forward means. The use of other means can be justified only by over-riding considerations of the public interest. The journalist is entitled to exercise a personal conscientious objection to the use of such means. Subject to the justification by over-riding considerations of the public interest, a journalist shall do nothing which entails intrusion into private grief and distress. A journalist shall protect confidential sources of information. A journalist shall not accept bribes nor shall he/ she allow other inducements to influence the performance of his/ her professional duties. A journalist shall not lend himself/ herself to the distortion or suppression of the truth because of advertising or other considerations. A journalist shall only mention a persons age, race, colour, creed, illegitimacy, disability, marital status (or lack of it), gender or sexual orientation if this information is strictly relevant. A journalist shall neither originate nor process material which encourages discrimination, ridicule, prejudice or hatred on any of the above-mentioned grounds. A journalist shall not take private advantage of information gained in the course of his/ her duties, before the information is public knowledge. A journalist shall not by way of statement, voice or appearance endorse by advertisement any commercial product or service save for the promotion of his/ her own work or of the medium by which he/ she is employed. As the journalistic profession became more organized and membership into accredited bodies became a requirement for credibility, the influential and powerful only needed to convince a few people in key positions to favour only information gathered from legitimate or â€Å"official† sources. Mainly this was comprised of information doled out by government officials and influential, private individuals. Officialdom began to set the tone for the professional press, and any disagreement to such an agenda began to be considered â€Å"biased† journalism. Statement of opinions was considered unprofessional, unless they happened to concur or reinforce official sources. (Media Lens, 2005) It gradually became necessary to attend journalism school in order to practice as a journalist, another step in the professionalism project. Some decry this as an attempt to mould prospective journalists into the prescribed direction of what is considered legitimate reporting. Some claim that the â€Å"professionalism† taught in journalism schools are highly influenced by big corporate publishers, media monopolies, under the guise of objective and balanced reporting. The training involves presumptions of the proper sources for legitimate news, the so-called â€Å"official sources.† These include prominent public and government figures. (Media Lens, 2005) War and peace Censorship of news is accomplished through a system referred to as the buzz saw. Anyone covering sensitive stories that deal with powerful people may be subject to this, and usually has an adverse effect on journalistic careers. (Media Lens, 2005)   This is especially true when reporting on war. British journalist and war correspondent mused, â€Å"When you stand at the site of a massacre, two things happen. First, you wonder about the depths of the human spirit. And then you ask yourself how many lies can be told about it.† Journalists have accepted that in times of war, the rules of journalism follows certain rules, chief among is to sustain the illusion that government decisions and actions are always just and right, and that the â€Å"other side† is always doing atrocities and lies. This is a form of patriotism that takes precedence over the clear-headed reporting of facts as they occur. It is the unspoken rule that journalists take sides, and always on the side of the government. This has been the case ever since the first civilian British war correspondent was send to Crimea in 1854. British television and radio announcer John Humphrys stated it in a nutshell, â€Å"In times of peace it is our job to question politicians vigorously, with the hope that they will answer the questions in the listeners heads. So long as we do not stray into operational areas and jeopardize our servicemen and servicewomen, I cannot for the life of me see why it should be different in times of war.† (Pesic, 1999) Yet, while in peace time patriotism is not an overt requirement, is it not true that journalists still prefer the status quo? That is, sustaining the balance of power by taking a favourable view of the establishment? It is easy, even encouraged, to report on the good things the powerful and influential are doing. There is no fierce scrambling to verify sources once, twice even thrice, as is in the case of any adverse reporting that may be done against the established order. This appears to be an echoing of the â€Å"we† and â€Å"they† perspective. Unfortunately, the â€Å"we† and â€Å"they† in peacetime involve people of one national identity. This is hardly a defensible position.   And this phenomenon is not peculiar to the British press. In fact, it seems to be the rule for legitimate press all over the world. Amateur journalism The advent of electronic media has challenged this state of journalistic affairs to a significant degree. As a reaction to rising costs associated with printing on paper, the idea to post online unpublished (because of space constraints) articles on a single webpage occurred to journalist and photographer Patrick Trollope in 1998. Interest in the website swiftly grew, encouraging the eventual establishment of the UK’s first online-only regional newspaper Southport Reporter. It is a recognized member of the NUJ and subscribes to the rules and regulations established by the organization. However, it is not the professional websites that has been changing the face of journalism in the world, and perhaps particularly in UK. It is the â€Å"amateur† sites such as web logs, forums, vlogs, even wikis that are defying the control and codes imposed by professionalism advocates. The problem with this amateur journalism, from the point of view of professional journalists, is their blithe unconcern for established order. There are no qualifications to join a forum or to respond to a topic on a weblog. People need not be a journalism graduate to share their knowledge about the best way to get coffee stains out of linen, or to discuss the state of cafeteria food at their children’s school. Perhaps if these sites limited themselves to such inocuous topics then professional journalists would not be so down on â€Å"amateur† journalists. While it is true they are â€Å"unqualified† based on established norms, non-membership in the NUJ or any other association does not prevent a housewife in London to have an opinion, perhaps even knowledge, about the war in Serbia. Professional journalists appear to forget that the first reporters in the UK had similar characteristics to today’s weblogger. They were average citizens with ordinary occupations such as postmasters or travelling salesmen with some news to impart, unverifiable for the most part, yet news nonetheless. At that time, print journalism was the â€Å"new† media, much like what online journalism is today. The most fundamental difference between these two stages of the 17th and 21st Century in journalism is that the latter shared news on the weather, trading, political situation in the surrounding counties and perhaps news from the war, much like what legitimate news is today. The former is more opinion driven, personal views of the world around them and the circumstances that conspire to induce discussion. There are no claims to legitimacy or verifiability from official sources. The new media of electronic reporting is the expression the masses in reaction to the official stand of the privileged few. In a way, it is the new socialism of journalism. Discussion Twentieth century journalist James Cameron, considered by many to be the greatest British journalist of modern times, refers to journalism as a craft rather than a profession, meaning he considered it an occupation which takes years of apprenticeship to hone to a skill. In history, UK journalism has followed a path to professionalism as an inevitable conclusion to pressures of political influence, market forces and the bottom line. Even yellow journalism has found a place in the ranks, albeit at the lower levels of the hierarchy. While it would be irresponsible to categorize this as propaganda, the rigid control and censorship of British journalism that has arisen from the development of the profession has made it less responsive to mass opinion and more inclined to follow the dictates of an official agenda. In the UK, especially, where the passion for following rules of conduct permeates the whole society, professional journalists have had to toe a very fine line indeed. Yet the desire to expose the truth in all its forms has persisted in the manner in which journalists pursue the gathering of information, While this may have no forum in legitimate publications, many have found a voice in the new media of electronic publishing. No rigid rules control the expression of opinion, and while some denounce this as unqualified, even unaccountable, this is no detriment to these thousand, even millions of amateurs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Professionalism in journalism is the pursuit of regulation that attempts to establish legitimacy and credibility in their endeavors. Dissenters and critics of officialdom decry to imposition of censorship and control. This is not necessarily an unfortunate state of affairs, because it provides the public with a basis for opinion, debate and discussion and encourages a healthy watchdog system. Professionalism in journalism will evolve eventually to provide for this growing population of mass-driven media and perhaps this will serve to shift the focus in journalism more from agenda to truth. References Dico, J. Elliott, F. (2006) Journalists have no morality, PM’s wife tells students. Independent News and Media Limited. Retrieved May 16, 2007 from http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2016131.ece Dohnanyi, J. Mà ¶ller, C. (2003) The impact of media concentration on professional journalism. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Retrieved May 17, 2007 from http://www.osce.org/publications/rfm/2003/12/12244_102_en.pdf Evetts, J. (2000) Professions in European and UK Markets; the European Professional Federations. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy Vol. 20 No. 11/12 History of British newspapers. (2007, May 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:00, May 18, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_British_newspapersoldid=129834454 Media Lens (2005) Thought control and â€Å"professional† journalism. Dissident Voice. Retrieved May 17, 2007 from http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Nov05/MediaLens1103.htm Neal, M. Morgan, J. (2000) The Professionalisation of Everyone? A comparative study of the development of the professions in the United Kingdom and Germany. European Sociological Review Vol. 16 No.1 pp9-26 NUJ Code of Conduct is still stricter than PCC guidelines. (2007) National Union of Journalists. Retrieved May 17, 2007 from http://www.nuj.org.uk/ Pesic, M. (1999) Patriotism versus professionalism. Media Diversity Institute.   Retrieved May 17, 2007 from http://www.media-diversity.org/articles_publications/patriotism%20versus%20professionalism.htm UK ruling seen protecting investigative journalism. (2006) Reuters. Retrieved May 17, 2007 from http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=telecommstoryid=nL11772231WTmodLoc=BizArt-R3-Insights-1from=business Wallace, M. (2006) New media journalism: how professional reporters are being influenced by the internet. Robin Good. Retrieved May 17, 2007 from http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/11/10/new_media_journalism_how_professional.htm

PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE

PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE Introduction Problem Statement Is there a right to die? The practice of which a doctor gives a patient a gravely damaging dose of a substance, which is the normally requested by the patient, that he or she has intentions of using to end his or her life is referred to as Physician Assisted Suicide. Some feel that a terminally ill patient should have a legal right to control the manner in which they die. Physicians and nurses have fought for the right to aid a patient in their death. Many families of the terminally ill have exhausted all of their finances taking care of a patient who is dying and would much prefer the option of assisted suicide to bankruptcy. While there are many strong views against Physician Assisted Suicide, one of the most compelling is that patients who are terminally ill have the right to die in not only a humane but also in a dignified manner. But in hindsight, can we assure that there is dignity in dying necessarily when the doctor who is so trusted by the patient and their family, and whose professional ethics are to further and sustain life, injects a patient who is terminally ill with a dose of medication that is so lethal it immediately puts an end to that individuals life? Each and every culture including our own have a taboo against murder. All across cultural and religious groups the practice of physician assisting with suicide is considered wrong. As stated by Leon R. Kass, 2008, even when requested by the patient, the taboo against doctors killing patients is the very embodiment of reason and wisdom. Without it, medicine will have lost its claim to be an ethical and trustworthy profession. Obviously, the moral and ethical dilemmas surrounding the legalization of physician assisted suicide will be an issue for years to come. Dying is as much a natural process of life as birth. Families have fought to have their loved ones kept alive even when there was a DNR (do not resuscitate) or advanced directive. My position is against Physician Assisted Suicide because the decision of when and where the time of our death should occur is one that only God has the right to decide, because no person or doctor has the right to end a life. Hypothesis Independent Variable Physician Assisted suicide comes into existence when a doctor supplies a patient with the ways and means of putting an end his or her life, most times with a prescription for a deadly dose of a medication or substance. The patient then takes the drugs without the assistance of the doctor. The way that this is done is different from euthanasia, which is when the doctor gives the lethal dose to the patient or he or she carry out some other act, such as administering a lethal injection that puts an end to the patients life. In most states, Physician Assisted suicide is an illegal act Dependent Variable Physician Assisted Suicide runs directly opposite to the belief that the duty of the doctor is to save and prolong life. Furthermore, if Physician Assisted Suicide were to become legal, there is a possibility that some form of abuses would occur. For example, poor and other elderly individuals might be secretly burdened to choose Physician Assisted Suicide over more complicated and expensive palliative care options. Review of the Literature According to the New England Journal of Medicine, a survey was done nationally in the United States which showed that in 1996, 3102 questionnaires were mailed to a stratified probability sample of physicians in the 10 specialties in which doctors are most likely to get requests from patients for assistance with suicide or euthanasia. 1902 completed these questionnaires. Eleven percent of the physicians said that under current legal constraints, there were circumstances in which they would be willing to hasten a patients death by prescribing medication, and 7 % said that they would give a lethal injection; 36% and 24%, respectively, said that they would do so if it were legal. Since beginning practice, 18.3% of the doctors stated that they received a request from a patient for help with suicide and 11.1% had been asked by their patient for a deadly injection. Sixteen percent of doctors who received such requests, or 3.3% of the entire sample, reported that they had written at least on e prescription to be used to speed up the death of a patient, and 4.7%, said that they had given at least one lethal injection (Meier et al, 1998). A second set of research done by Braddock, Tonelli, 1998 also noted that Physician Assisted Suicide is unethical for one of many reasons. First, there is the argument of the sanctity of life which details intense religious and worldly beliefs against taking the life of a human being. The argument is also that assisted suicide is also wrong morally because it is contrary to these traditions. Second, passive vs. Active distinction: The argument here is that there is a significant distinction between passively letting an individual die and actively killing an individual. Of course there is the argument that refusing to treat someone or refraining from treating equals to letting the individual die (passive) and is excusable, while Physician Assisted Suicide equals to killing an individual (active) and is not excusable. Third, the potential for abuse which argues that particular groups of people who does not have the ability to obtain care and support, may be pushed into physician assiste d death. Also, physician assisted death may become a strategy for cost-containment. Family members who are burdened and other health care providers may attempt to persuade the patient toward physician assisted death. To shield the patient from these deceptions, it is the argument that Physician Assisted Suicide should remain illegal. Fourthly, professional integrity in which those who oppose physician assisted suicide point to the historical ethical beliefs of medicine, strongly opposed to taking life. The general concern is that connecting Physician Assisted Suicide to the practice of medicine could damage the way in which the general public views the profession. Lastly, fallibility of the profession in which the worry is that doctors will make errors (Braddock, Tonelli, 1998). The University Of Washington School Of Medicine followed up with research to prove the illegality of Physician Assisted Suicide. Research by Meier et al, 1998 states that in most states, including the state of Washington, assisting in a suicide is considered a crime and the state of Oregon is the only state where Physician Assisted Suicide is presently legalized. In the case of Compassion in Dying v. Washington, the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals held that individuals have a right to choose how and when they die. Later, the Second Circuit Court found a New York law on Physician Assisted Suicide in conflict with the 14th amendment, which says that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The Court held that competent patients were being treated differently than incompetent patients. The US Supreme Court has ruled that there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide, and made a legal distinction between refusal of treatment and Physician Assisted Suicide. However, the Court also left the decision of whether to legalize Physician Assisted Suicide up to each individual state (Braddock, Tonelli, 1998). Oregons Death with Dignity Act which was established on October 27, 1997 permits terminally ill Oregonians to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, solely prescribed by a physician for that purpose. The statute requires the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) to collect information about patients and physicians who participate in the physician- assisted death (PAD) process. It also requires ODHS to publish an annual statistical report (Aungst, 2008). According to Oregon public health officials, by the end of 2001, doctors in the state had legally prescribed a lethal dose of barbiturates for 139 patients. Ninety of these patients ingested the medication and died Dr. Timothy Quill was investigated but not convicted for the part he played in the suicide of a patient after he made public his account of the incident. In November of 1998, 60 Minutes aired a tape of Dr. Jack Kevorkian administering a lethal injection. His patient, 52 year-ol d Thomas Youk, suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrigs disease. As a result of the show, Kevorkian was tried for first degree murder in Oakland County, Michigan. Prosecutors argued that, in giving a lethal injection, Kevorkian stepped over the line of Physician Assisted Suicide into euthanasia, and that his actions amounted to murder. Kevorkian was convicted of second degree murder, and is currently serving a 10 to 25 year prison sentence (Braddock, Tonelli, 1998). Since 1990 four Dutch government-sponsored surveys of end-of-life decision-making by Dutch doctors have been carried out (covering 1990, 1995, 2001 and 2005 respectively). The surveys have shown that in thousands of cases doctors have broken the legal and professional guidelines regulating Physician Assisted Suicide, not least the requirement that doctors report each case to the authorities. For example, the first survey showed that in 1990 over 80 percent of cases went unreported and were instead illegally certified by doctors as deaths from natural causes. The latest survey shows that, in 2005, 80 percent of cases were reported, a significant improvement, but that 20 percent of cases were still illegally certified as death from natural causes.