Monthly Archives: March 2014

Government Control

Posted on March 31, 2014 by | 3 comments

Germany

During WWII the Nazi Party was in control of mass media and the use of propaganda was major tool for control. In 1945 after Germany’s surrender Germany’s media started anew. Freedom of the press was stipulated into the Basic Law (German Constitution).

From 1945 to 1990 Germany was divided into East and West. The postwar media system of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) worked under the control of the Communist Party. After the unification of Germany in 1990 the media system of the former GDR became liberal.

Presently the German press has a number of independent editorial units with no government input. Radio and television also follow in suit.

 

France

Government censorship was  used primarily during the 16th through 18th centuries. However, control over television and radio was strong in the 1950s-1970s. Freedom of press was  granted in the French constitution in 1881. The 1990 Gayssot Act prohibits racist and religious hate.

The press is mostly unrestricted although there is sometimes pressure that will prevent a publication that’s against the interest of someone that’s a major public figure. Unlike other newspapers that depend on advertising, Carnard enchaine is a newspaper that is known for its scoops and bold publications even against government’s will. In order to remain truly independent the Carnard doesn’t accept advertising.

 

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Posted in Media Systems

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General level of illiteracy in Germany and France

Posted on March 31, 2014 by | 15 comments

According to the country-facts data, the literacy rate in France is 99% with a rank of 37 out of 215 countries. And the literacy rate in Germany is also 99% with a rank of 20 out of 215 countries. However, I was able to find recent news articles that adult illiteracy rate is twice as high as the general expectation. Typically people think of illiteracy is a problem in poorer, less developed countries since most of the world’s 800 million illiterates actually live in developing countries. It is somewhat shocking to find out the problem of illiteracy is not a niche problem anymore in a global world. People find it hard to live as illiterate in everyday lives, even simple things such as applying for jobs, reading bus schedules or checking bank statement. Most illiterates need to struggle with everyday barrier. As they get older, their sense of sham grow and it becomes a serious psychological pressure when they do not want to admit they can’t read or write. Nowadays, more and more jobs rely on employees using computers and technology. If one cannot read, understand or write, then it is obvious that they have limited media access. They lose their rights to express their opinions as a citizen and this issue becomes more serious if the government does not remedy lack of media access, even though they are less than 15% of the population.

GERMANY University of Hamburg found that approximately 7.5 million or 14 % of the work force German are suffering from illiteracy in 2011. The research proved that 60% of those found to be illiterate were men whereas 40% were women. Attending school and getting a proper education until the age of 16 is mandatory in Germany. The most surprising fact is that 12% of those who had completed a higher level of education are illiterate. Currently, Annette Schavan, federal minister for education and research in Germany, is working on a new initiative to increase education to combat this problem.

Illiteracy in GERMANY (youtube video)

FRANCE The thing is, this is not only happening in Germany but also in France. In France today, there are 2,500,000 people, which corresponds to 7% of the population from 18 to 65 years of age, who do not have essential basic literacy skills.

Fortunately, the United Nations Literacy Decade, launched in 2003, ran Apoll, a web site financed by the education ministry where people can learn to read and write in Germany. With the use of the Internet, it helps people to remain anonymous so they can start to learn immediately, without revealing their identity to online tutors. Online learning makes more comfortable environment for illiterates because it does not matter how long people use it or where they are at. The UN Literacy Decade aims to halve the number of illiterates worldwide by 2015. Additionally, the work of the German Federal Literacy Agency is financed through donations and membership contributions. In France, the French National Agency to Fight Illiteracy, created in 2000, is also operating around 150 partner institutions to prevent and overcome illiteracy.

 

Reference:

http://www.thelocal.de/20110301/33431

http://www.dw.de/fighting-illiteracy-in-germany/a-1471255

http://blog.sofitel-berlin-kurfurstendamm.com/illiteracy-in-germany/

http://www.areva.com/EN/group-3807/france-preventing-illiteracy-with-anlci.html

http://www.grundbildung-und-beruf.info/et_dynamic/page_files/533_datei.pdf?1345035945

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Posted in Media Access

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Economic crisis: An overview of turmoil in the European Union

Posted on March 31, 2014 by | 2 comments

It’s no secret that Europe is in trouble. Even the most passive Yahoo News surfer knows the basics:

greece unemployment

germany bmw

What many may not know, however, is that the European financial crisis dates back as early as 2005, the year that the European Central Bank (ECB) first warned that financial imbalances were growing in Europe. These warnings continued throughout 2006 and 2007, until the G20 leaders met in Washington on November 15, 2008 to discuss the economic state of Europe and reform tactics.

According to those summit leaders, the crisis boils down to two main roots:

  1. Poor risk management practices
  2. Inconsistent and insufficient macroeconomic policies

Basically, because many European countries experienced growth early in the 21st century, they took more risks. These risks, however, were poorly calculated, leaving the system vulnerable. On top of poor risk management practices, financial structures were poorly planned, causing them to be unsustainable.

By March 2010, Greece was in survival mode, and the European Union offered its support should Grecian leaders ask for it, stating:

We fully support the efforts of the Greek government and welcome the additional measures announced on 3 March which are sufficient to safeguard the 2010 budgetary targets. We recognize that the Greek authorities have taken ambitious and decisive action which should allow Greece to regain the full confidence of the markets.

Greece sought support by April of that same year. Ireland followed suit the following November, with Portugal not far behind in April 2011.  Spain and Cyprus held out longer, requesting aid in June 2012.

In March 2012, not long after Eurogroup agreed on a second financing of Greece, 25 European counties signed the “fiscal compact,” agreeing to tighten fiscal discipline and better observe European policies.  By November 2013, 150 major European banks came under the direct supervision of the ECB to promote accountability.

While the fiscal state of Europe has improved, there is much progress to be made. According to the New York Times, France and Germany have emerged as leaders, with .3% and .4% GDP growth respectively in the final quarter of 2013.

For the ECB’s full timeline of the European economic crisis, click here.

 

 

 

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Posted in Introduction

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France’s Freedom of Speech: How Free Is It?

Posted on March 31, 2014 by | 8 comments

France’s Freedom of Speech: How Free Is it?

 

A nation’s ability to communicate comes from the way its Media is Structure, and more often the structure of the media stems from what can and cannot be said. These rules of speech are usually outlined in some Freedom of speech doctrine.  In France and in much of Western Europe hate speech is simply not allowed.  Frances hates speech law “criminalizes incitement to racial discrimination, hatred, or violence on the basis of one’s origin or membership (or non-membership) in an ethic, national, racial, or religious group”. Many of these laws can be found all over Europe and come from a fear of what can happen if hate speech runs ramped.  It was Hitler’s hate speech against the Jews that rallied and fired up the Nazi party in the late1930s, which subsequently started the Second World War and one of humanities darkest tragedies, the Holocaust.  It would be natural for Europe to be adamant about people expressing their hatred through speech for fear of a repeat.  However, does limiting someone’s ability to speak freely hinder the democratic process?

Another issue is when does one draw the line on what is hate speech, and what is just insulting? Ethically hate speech should be outlawed but if a civil suite were filed every time some one felt insulted the courts would be over whelmed it would be an impractical law.  Also in France It has been very easy for extremist groups to manipulate these laws in their favor many have won large sums of compensations.  Currently the high courts of France are in the process of ruling on several high profile hate speech cases. In particular a Frenchman named Dieudonné M’bala M’bal, a Comedian, has built his entire comedy routine around anti-Semitic jokes.  The Government has banded him from all French venues, and he is in the process of appealing these punishments on grounds of violation of his freedom of speech.  The French government in this matter protects the rights and freedoms of the a collective or group being “hated” and the individual is over looked.

This contrasts with the United States’ views on hate speech, which protects  the individual’s right to a freedom of expression and speech by the first amendment of the United States Constitution. A United States citizen is allowed to express any form of emotion as long as it doesn’t insight a clear and present danger to them selves or those around them.   This insures that the individual is able to speak out against the government in times of turmoil if need be.  It is also believed that speech is just that, speech.  It is often assumed “that there should be laws preventing bad behavior but no laws preventing bad beliefs.”

 

Sources:

http://www.legal-project.org/issues/european-hate-speech-laws

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/initiatives_awards/students_in_action/debate_hate.html

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304347904579308710662277206

 

 

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Posted in Media Structures

Media Examples

Posted on March 30, 2014 by | Leave a comment

Check out this German newspaper’s website– http://www.themunicheye.com/

Newspapers are still common in Germany. This German newspaper, The Munich Eye, resembles typical American newspapers greatly.  There is a column for sports, health, opinion, arts and politics, just as we would see in a newspaper in the US.  There is even a place to attain advertisements in the paper, showing the ability of German newspapers to advertise freely.

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Posted in Cultural Elements

Family & Education

Posted on March 30, 2014 by | 2 comments

GERMANY

There has  been an enormous amount of progress made towards equal rights for women and men.  Women are now able to attain higher level careers than they could before.  Their only obstacle now is that the standard of childcare and childcare facilities in Germany is very low, and women are still more likely to have to stay home to care for children than men.  Also, even in their higher-level jobs, women still do not make as much money as men would in that same job.  This is similar to the United States in that women are able to attain higher-level careers, but definitely do not get paid as much as a man would in their position.  It has also been shown that not only are girls now in line with the knowledge and education power of boys their age, but they have surpassed them.  More girls than boys in Germany now go on to secondary school and Universities.

FRANCE

France is making a little bit slower progress on gender equality than Germany.  Women in France still do 80% of the household chores and get paid on average about 27% less than men do.  Sexual harassment has been an ongoing issue in France and was only just addressed in 2012 with a law making sexual harassment a crime.

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Posted in Cultural Elements

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