It is unfortunate that the mainstream media and internet agenda-ridden blogger "media" use the 1st amendment to manipulate people.

But the fact is that freedom is based on the individual, and since this is true, no one else can be held accountable for a particular reaction by an individual for believing or disbelieving in something someone else said.

The media is just made up of people. When a group of people incorporate into a group and call themselves the "press" or whatever, it does not raise their level of legitimacy, we would like for them to be a certain way, but that does not change the fact that the individual is responsible for their own actions. If they respond to the "news" and panic, then that is all on them.

The "crisis" media does not make people, who realize that what is happening now has happened before, and it led to this that and the other, or was caused by such and such actions, don’t "panic". The masses who are susceptible to the "crisis" media simply have existed in every society, and it didn’t matter if "free speech" was there or not. If the government media told them to panic, they did, and in every case, this is when the government increased its’ power.

Society cannot be based on the lowest common denominator, and those easily swayed by the media, politicians, or preachers, can not dictate the laws of that society simply because they are too unstable.

There is no good alternative to the absence of freedom of speech, although it doesn’t seem to do much good since there really is a downward spiral happening as far as individual freedom is concerned. All the info is out there, all the history to refer to, no book is out of reach, yet look at what people are choosing to allow to happen?
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This is an article about media restrictions in China which you might find interesting. http://www.cfr.org/publication/11515/

And I would say a better word than magnify is focus. They may exaggerate issues, but have they really instilled fear in anyone? I would personally be more afraid if I knew the government had more control over the media than it currently does.
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But like everything else, the abuse of speech and the abuse of the press hurts things.
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But unless you read and listen to all sides, how can you form an informed opinion?
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The idea that the media is instilling everyone with fear, that everyone is an idiot who cannot decide their own rational beliefs is a fear instilling idea itself (unless that’s what the media wants us to think).
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If we didn’t have freedom of speech and press blacks would still be slaves and women still wouldn’t be able to vote.
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