Have Drugs Become Scapegoats In Wider Social Conflicts Criminology Essay

Have Drugs Become Scapegoats In Wider Social Conflicts Criminology Essay Across the world, many countries that experience issues like rising crime rates, domestic violence, unemployment, and even depression look for something to blame for these problems. Over the years there have been cases where authorities, in these countries, target illicit drugs and illegal use of pharmaceuticals as the cause of their problems. Because drug use causes such damage to addicts it easily becomes a scapegoat for wider social issues and conflicts between different racial, religious and national groups. USA In the United States, perhaps one of the most notorious examples of an illicit drug becoming a scapegoat was the situation with marijuana in the early 1900s. This stemmed back to the start of the 20th century when marijuana was mainly used by minority groups such as Mexican farm labourers, blacks from the southern states and Filipino immigrants. The 1910 Mexican revolution led to thousands of Mexicans fled to the US. The large wealthy farmers welcomed these people who were willing to work for low wages and local businesses made money because the migrants spent most of what they earned. (Marentes C Marentes C.P. 1996) However the townspeople and small farmers werent so happy about the immigration. Small family farmers were driven out of business because they couldnt compete with large farms that had cut their costs by paying cheap wages. Caught in the middle, the Mexican migrants became the focus for the economic conflict between business and labour. (Abel E L, 1980) The Mexicans use of marijuana was an easy target and racist politicians, in the farming areas, attacked the migrants as un-American and spread the myth that the use of marihuana caused insanity violence and crime. In 1911 the American consul in Mexico wrote a letter saying that marihuana causes the smoker to become exceedingly pugnacious and to run amuck without discrimination. (Richard J Bonnie, 1974, p.221) Journalists who wrote articles with shock headlines such as the Marijuana Menace and Killer Weed also encouraged these myths. Jerome L. Himmelstein argues that the Killer Weed image got created out of views that were held in society about the drugs original perceived users. Mexican labourers and other lower strata groups. These people were stereotyped as violent/enraged. This idea for marijuana continued until the user group changed during the 1960s, to the middle class youth. (Himmelstein, J.L., 1938, 7(1):35-62) In this way marijuana quickly became the popular scapegoat for the troubles of poverty, racism, and discrimination. The first states to outlaw the use of marijuana were the ones with large numbers of migrant workers from Mexico. California prohibited the possession of marijuana in 1907 and later included it in laws against hard narcotics, such as heroin and cocaine. In 1914, the town of El Paso outlawed the possession or sale of marihuana. The law wasnt really designed to protect the locals but rather as a way of making life more difficult for the foreigners who they resented. (Abel E L, 1980) In the 1960s marijuana again became the scapegoat for a social and cultural problem, this time between generations. During the sixties many young people rebelled against the lifestyle of their parents. They wore different clothes, grew their hair long and turned to different religions and radical politics. The older generation were shocked by the music they listened to, their sexual attitudes and their use of drugs such as LSD and marijuana. During this time the claim of marijuana as a Killer Weed was replaced by the opposite line of marijuana as a Drop Out Drug and in 1965, Time Magazine published an article saying that marijuana now affects users judgement and if used daily will dull a students initiative. (Time Magazine 1965, vol. 85: 49) Writing about this period in The Social Construction of Drug Scares Craig Reinarman says medical scientists were drawn into blaming drugs for the behaviour of youth because the dominant groups in society felt threatened by the younger generations rejection of conventional values. (Reinarman C (1994) 14:143) This rejection of authority came to head over the US war with North Vietnam. A large number of young Americans demonstrated against the war in Vietnam and this led to more conflict with the government authorities that wanted to neutralise the growing anti-war movement. The FBI often arrested protest leaders and activists on marijuana charges. In 1970, in response to what was seen as a growing drug problem, the US government passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. Ireland Over the last 30 years Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, has experienced an epidemic of heroin usage, and the problem continues today. Heroin first began flooding into the northern and southern part of Dublin in the late 1970s and since then heroin has become symbolically associated with violent crime, public health problems, massive unemployment and urban decay. For nearly 40 years the use of heroin has been responsible for a lot of the petty crime in Dublin. Addicts are involved in muggings, robbery of houses and prostitution as try to get money to buy the drug. But as the use of heroin criminal gangs moved into Dublin and this led to more violent crime, including many murders, as they fought to control the drug trade. A lot of the crime was between gangs but many innocent people were caught in the crossfire the most well known was Veronica Guerin, a journalist who was investigating drug crime, who was shot by criminals while stopped at a traffic light. (Maggie OKane 2000) Ireland has seen a huge increase in the number of heroin related deaths over last 30 years. According to a report in the European Journal of Public Health this is most noticeable in younger age groups where, for example, it rose from less than 1% in 1980 to 23% of 1519 year old male deaths in 1997. Many heroin users in Dublin also die from diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis caused by sharing needles. (Kelleher M J A, Keown P J, OGara C, Keaney F, Farrell M and Strang J, 2003/2004, vol. 15(6), p.589-592) In the late nineties unemployment rates in the disadvantaged areas of Dublin were estimated to be between 33% and peak at 45%. (OGorman A Illicit Drug Use In Dublin) However, in some areas this rate was as high as 55% over three times the average for all of Ireland. Many of the people who turned to heroin in the eighties and nineties lived in run down flats and as they spent more money on heroin the areas became even more dirty and miserable. As a result, many people who had lived in these areas for years and who were the source of a sense of community, moved out to different parts of the city. Often the empty flats were then used for temporary housing of homeless people, making the problem even worse. (Loughran H and McCann M E 2007, Newsletter of the Alcohol and Drug Research Unit, Issue 21) In Dublin its clear that heroin use is closely tied to the citys problems with crime, public health, massive unemployment and run down housing. However the real problem affecting most heroin users in Ireland is extreme poverty. Last year Belfast Telegraph reported the level of persistent poverty in Northern Ireland children is more than double that of those in Great Britain and said that 20% of families in Northern Ireland experience persistent poverty compared to a 10% in Great Britain. (Belfast Telegraph, 2009) A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) blamed high levels of unemployment, disability, lower wages and poor quality part-time jobs for the high levels of poverty. (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2009) Heroin addicts are the victims of this poverty and the use of the drug should not become the scapegoat for the problem. Poverty has been a major problem in Dublin for a long time. In the early 1900s its estimated that a quarter of families living in one room. (Lambert T, A Brief History of Dublin, Ireland) Heroin might be the thing that pushes people further into poverty but it wasnt the original cause of poverty in Ireland. Heroin is also not the reason for the high levels of disadvantage included the fact that 31% of the working age population isnt in paid work. Former Ireland international rugby player Gerry McLoughlin spoke out on the issues in Ireland saying the government had poor organisation in combating the drug epidemic. It seems to him that the real issue wasnt the Heroin, but abysmal efforts and moves made by Irelands government to fix issues of poverty, increasing crime and failing aid. All of which led to the drug usage. (Cusack J, 2008) There are all these people in quangos who are supposed to be dealing with this, but we can see nothing being done. There is no treatment or rehab centre in Limerick. We see all these people politicians included in their plush, posh offices doing nothing. They are out of touch with the suffering of people on the ground. (McLoughlin G and Cusack J, 2008) In the eyes of GARDAI (Garda Sochna na hireann Guardians of the Peace (of Ireland)) police, Heroin is seen as the drug of economic recession, as back in the 1980s, the drug took hold of the working class during economic failure. (Cusack J, 2008) Illicit drugs are a massive problem in many countries but in cases such as America and Ireland the use of drugs was made a scapegoat for social and cultural problems that had many other causes. References List Abel E L, (1980), Marijuana The First Twelve Thousand Years: Reefer Racism, Schaffer Library of Drug Policy, http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/hemp/history/first12000/11.htm , Accessed 24 April 2010 Cusack Jim (2008). Gardai fear epidemic of heroin in rural areas, The Independant National News Himmelstein, J.L. (1938) From Killer Weed to Drop Out Drug, Contemporary Crises, 7(1):35-62 Kelleher M J A, Keown P J, OGara C, Keaney F, Farrell M and Strang J, 2003/2004, Dying for heroin: the increasing opioid-related mortality in the Republic of Ireland, 19801999, European Journal of Public Health, vol. 15(6), p.589-592 Lambert T, A Brief History of Dublin, Ireland, http://www.localhistories.org/dublin.html , Accessed 1 May 2010 Loughran H and McCann M E (2007) A community drugs study, Newsletter of the Alcohol and Drug Research Unit, Issue 21 Marentes C Marentes C.P., (1996) The first migrant workers http://www.farmworkers.org/immigrat.html Accessed 23 April 2010 New Policy Institute 2009 Monitoring poverty and social exclusion in Northern Ireland, Joseph Rowntree Foundation OGorman A, Illicit Drug Use In Dublin http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/4272/1/791-0739.pdf , Accessed 29 April 2010 OKane M (2000), The woman who knew too much The Guardian, Reinarman C (1994) The Social Construction of Drug Scares, Wadsworth Publishing Co., Chpt. 14: p143 Richard J Bonnie, (1974), The marihuana conviction;: A history of marihuana prohibition in the United States, University Press of Virginia; 1st edition p.221 Time Magazine (1965) Education: The Pot Problem, Time vol. 85: 49

Dispostional Personality Theories Essay

The two most common dispositional theories are Allport’s psychology of the individual theory and the trait and factor theory. Allport’s psychology of the individual theory emphasized that people are unique, even though they may share traits in common, and those unique qualities are what should be focused on. â€Å"More than any other personality theorist, Gordon Allport emphasized the uniqueness of the individual. He believed that attempts to describe people in terms of general traits rob them of their unique individuality†. In order to focus on the individuals uniqueness Allport felt that a broad theory is more useful than a narrow one and he would use information from different theorist in his research. For many years there has been much debate about how many traits actually have an effect on an individual’s personality. In recent years the majority of theorist have come to the conclusion that five is the magic number. Esyneck, McCrae, and Costa have focused their studies on the trait and facto theory and have done much research using standardized tests, clinical observations, and observations from friends and families of the individuals studied. â€Å"Trait and factor theories of personality are based on factor analysis, a procedure that assumes that human traits can be measured by correlational studies†. Each of these theories have different approaches to explaining an individual’s behavior. Both Allport’s psychology of the individual theory and the trait and factor theory have its own effect on individual personalities. Interpersonal relationships are influenced by each of these theories in its own way as well.

Kids, Work and Joan of Arc Essay Topics

Kids, Work and Joan of Arc Essay Topics How to Get Started with Joan of Arc Essay Topics? As soon as you get the prompt, attempt to correct the academic format with the aid of numerous free online writing guides. The very first step is important to starting to get in touch with the spirit guides. A whole lot of the ideas of the book cannot be doubted. He should be prepared to attempt Year 4, there is not any superior screenwriting software on the industry. It has lessons it's an excellent idea to get some note cards. If you have to write only 1 paper at the conclusion of the period, you can breathe out as you are blessed. Quite simply, he's got no money of his own. Ultimately, they're made to condemn her to death. Being sworn in the Dauphin's army proved to be a big turning point within her class, gender role, and life. Napoleon thought he was intended to be the ruler of the planet. She absolutely will not dress as a woman so long as she's a soldier. However, the king wouldn't let her go. Answering these questions is a superb means to go over some of the more important facts on her biography and historical legacy. It could sound not too helpful, but at the point of picking a topic, you ought to think about those characteristics of the subject that are simple and interesting for you. It means these individuals vividly find the huge picture and know which aspects of it need to get emphasized. The issue, Castor explains, is that categorization is over-simplistic. Brainstorming activities might provide help. I learned information which I had never heard before. This usually means you will produce your own ideas. It might be all sorts of ideas or inventions, information that you should write down for future usage, or something that you want to do for someone. However, Joan of Arc wasn't mad or crazy as a good deal of the folks within her time thought she was. She, however, is unsatisfied. Through him, she is able to obtain her first armor and her first chance to show her military skills. She seemed to be aware of her extraordinary destiny. She was a very courageous woman. It was really interesting to find out more about Joan of Arc. Here Joan, once more, was wounded, yet this time within her thigh. Joan's actions will forever be in History, together with all the other wonderful ladies, and men of earth. With Charles crowned, Joan would like to lead forces to attempt to take back Paris, but nobody supports this program. It turns out to be impossible, however, because Joan's personal beliefs simply don't jibe with the Church's. Noel is definitely my favourite person! The 30-Second Trick for Joan of Arc Essay Topics You must read most of this literature during the class of the expression. A structure of the type of academic assignment differs from the one students may have seen before when dealing with higher school essays. Then they list the different kinds of influenza, including, the Spanish flu. You may use the syllabus given to you from the instructor to be able to come across a topic for your research paper. Putting together an argumentative essay outline is the ideal approach to begin on but that doesn't signify that you can stay away from writing your argumentative essay! How much time does it take to finish a doctoral dissertation. How to earn thesis presentation ppt. No way, says everybody and all of them make excuses to leave the dream. In this manner, the lost of individuality might be a great thing. Everybody can contact them since every individual has them. A person's convictions to their beliefs require at times great work. She started hearing voices at age 13. There's a man inside her visions that basically predicts what is going to occur and tells her. This is the area where meditation is vital in everyday life. The location where you can feel as if you can breathe better and your head is clear. Quite simply, her behavior was beginning to attract the incorrect type of attention. In addition, I desire to estimate her perseverance for a figure of international fascination despite her historical origins in a world that is quite different to ours.

Juche North Koreas Leading Political Philosophy

Juche, or Korean socialism, is a political ideology first formulated by Kim Il-sung (1912–1994), the founder of modern North Korea.  The word Juche is a combination of two Chinese characters, Ju and Che, Ju meaning master, subject, and the self as actor; Che meaning object, thing, material. Philosophy and Politics Juche began as Kims simple statement of self-reliance; specifically, North Korea would no longer look to China, the Soviet Union, or any other foreign partner for aid. Over the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the ideology evolved into a complex set of principles that some have called a political religion. Kim himself referred to it as a type of reformed Confucianism. Juche as a philosophy includes three basic elements: Nature, Society, and Man. Man transforms Nature and is the master of Society and his own destiny. The dynamic heart of Juche is the leader, who is considered the center of society and its guiding element. Juche is thus the guiding idea of the peoples activities and the countrys development. Officially, North Korea is atheist, as are all communist regimes.  Kim Il-sung worked hard to create a cult of personality around the leader, in which the peoples veneration of him resembled religious worship.   Over time, the idea of Juche has come to play a larger and larger part in the religio-political cult around the Kim family. Roots: Turning Inward Kim Il-sung first mentioned Juche on December 28, 1955, during a speech railing against Soviet dogma. Kims political mentors had been Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin, but his speech now signaled North Koreas deliberate turn away from the Soviet orbit, and a turn inward.  Ã‚   To make revolution in Korea we must know Korean history and geography as well as the customs of the Korean people. Only then is it possible to educate our people in a way that suits them and to inspire in them an ardent love for their native place and their motherland.  Kim Il-sung, 1955. Initially, then, Juche was mainly a statement of nationalist pride in service of the communist revolution. But by 1965, Kim had evolved the ideology into a set of three fundamental principles. On April 14 of that year, he outlined the principles: political independence (chaju), economic self-sustenance (charip), and self-reliance in national defense (chawi). In 1972, Juche became an official part of North Koreas constitution. Kim Jong-Il and Juche In 1982, Kims son and successor Kim Jong-il wrote a document titled On the Juche Idea, elaborating further on the ideology.  He wrote that implementation of Juche required the North Korean people to have independence in thought and politics, economic self-sufficiency, and self-reliance in defense.  Government policy should reflect the will of the masses, and the methods of revolution should be suitable to the countrys situation. Finally, Kim Jong-il stated that the most important facet of revolution was molding and mobilizing the people as communists. In other words, Juche requires that people think independently while paradoxically also requiring them to have absolute and unquestioning loyalty to the revolutionary leader. Using Juche as a political and rhetorical tool, the Kim family has nearly erased Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Mao Zedong from the consciousness of the North Korean people.  Within North Korea, it now appears as if all of the precepts of communism were invented, in a self-reliant way, by Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. Sources Armstrong CK. 2011. Juche and North Koreas global aspirations. In: Ostermann CF, editor. North Korea International Documentation Project: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.Chartrand P, Harvey F, Tremblay E, and Ouellet E. 2017. North Korea: Perfect harmony between totalitarianism and nuclear capability. Canadian Military Journal 17(3).David-West A. 2011. Between Confucianism and Marxism-Leninism: Juche and the Case of Chong Tasan. Korean Studies 35:93-121.Helgesen G. 1991. Political revolution in a cultural continuum: preliminary observations on the North Korean Juche ideology with its intrinsic cult of personality. Asian Perspective 15(1):187-213.Kim, J-I. 1982. On the Juche idea. Blackmark Online.

The Rise And Fall Of Enron - 1900 Words

The Rise and Fall of Enron One of the most basic tenets of all companies, whether small or large, is to create a principled corporate culture. Those ethical principles must start with the executives of the organization and trickle down to the individual employees. Leaders affect the employees’ decision-making process, yet they tend to adopt the same rationale as their leaders when reaching a decision. The leadership of a company needs to find a balance between risk and creating opportunity. While generating revenue and growth are paramount, at most, organizations, executives set the tone regarding what actions and behaviors are acceptable to achieve these objectives. This paper will explore what happened to Enron when its leadership†¦show more content†¦Jeffrey Skilling was hired by Lay in 1990 after working in a consulting capacity for three years. Skilling served in leadership roles within various Enron subsidiaries before becoming president and chief operating officer at Enron in 1997. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Enron for nine months in 2001 before resigning from the company for personal reasons. Skilling hired Andrew Fastow in 1990 because he was familiar with energy marketplace deregulation. Fastow worked in numerous capacities at Enron before ultimately being named Chief Financial Officer in 1998 and served in that position until the Securities and Exchange Commission commenced an investigation into irregularities in the company’s behavior. Under the leadership of Skilling and the prowess of Fastow, in the 1990s, Enron altered its accounting method and starting using mark-to-market accounting. Mark-to-market accounting permitted Enron to add anticipated profits from a new project to their balance sheet without the project generating revenue. If the real profit proved to be lower than expected, Enron would transfer the loss to a special-purpose entity. The special-purpose entities created a way for the losses to go unreported. Under Fastow’s direction, Enron devised a way to write off losses without affecting the core business and stock value. Due to these practices, Enron’s balance sheet overstated earnings and understated their liabilities.

Digital Fortress Chapter 3 Free Essays

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Online Defamation a Position Paper free essay sample

Just for a moment, pretend that you are a 40 year old contractor looking for work. Now pretend that while surfing the internet for Job openings, you find an article about yourself. You then realize that this particular article is the sole reason that you have not been able to find work for the past few months. This article falsely states that you are an incompetent workman, and have little experience in your field. Believe it or not, the person responsible for publishing such an article can actually be sued for something called defamation, which is covered in the Libel Slander Act. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, defamation is a false and unprivileged statement of fact that is harmful to someones reputation, and published with fault, meaning as a result of negligence or malice. However, there are many proven defenses that can be be used when faced with a defamation lawsuit. We will write a custom essay sample on Online Defamation: a Position Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The most recently created defense is dubbed the public interest defense. The defense states that if a matter is of public interest, then one has the privilege to report it. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether the defense is allowed to be used retaining to online defamation. Because of the activist atmosphere of the internet, lack of editing for private publications, and simplicity of posting online, the defense should not be permitted for use by private publications such as blobs. However, online press publications should have the privilege of the defense, considering that there are many news organizations which are solely available online, and many tangible publications digitize their articles. The Press shall be defined as: online instances of any tangible medium publication, or any publication which has more Han one writer on staff, its own URL, articles which must go under formal editorial review, and host writers who are qualified in a relevant expertise/field. The reason for the aforementioned, is that people who publish articles by themselves on personal blobs and websites, are generally able to include personal opinions etc. Without any review o r verification attempts on behalf of the publication, as the nature of the publications allows them to do so. Defamation is a problem which has increased greatly in recent years, due to the rise in popularity of the internet. Up until the past people of decades, only certain people were enabled to publish their own opinions, which often had to be put through strict editing processes before shown to the public. The internet has abolished this principle, allowing almost anyone to publish information (or lack thereof) for millions of people to see worldwide. As the Saskatoon Phoenix puts it Only established media outlets used to have to worry; now everybody does. Due to the aforementioned, publications on the internet need to be more controlled. In the landmark Barrack Gold v Elephantine case, in which the defendant ousted defamatory messages on many websites relating to the companys operations, the court figured that the messages would not be taken seriously, as the messages were not grammatically correct, and had personal opinions and random capitals. As stated by an appeal Judge communication via the Internet is instantaneous, seamless, inter-active, blunt, borderless and far-reaching. It is also impersonal, and the anonymous nature of such communications may itself create a greater risk that the defamatory remarks are believed. In the McElroy v. Copper-Smith and Woodman case, it was decided that the attendants mental stability unneeded t credibility of the person; the outcome was that no reasonable businessman would be likely to be affected in his dealings with [the plaintiffs] by statements coming from [that] source. Obviously when a comment is made on the internet, no one knows the source of that comment, and therefor e the credibility of a person cannot be determined. Such, is why the general public should not be able to use such defense: to discourage them from posting in the first place. The world has survived by hearing the sole opinions of professional Journalists for centuries, without having to receive information from others, and therefore the general public can continue doing so in the future. The general public do not have a Journalism degree, and most people have very poor Judgment when it comes to posting online. Obviously it can be concluded that they should not be encouraged to do so via the use of the public interest defense. Additionally, people on personal websites can lie about credentials, making it even more difficult for the average person to discern what is actually fact compared to personal opinion. In conclusion, because of the anonymous nature, and countersigning which can occur when posting information online, the general public should not have access to the public interest defense in regards to electronic defamation. In this day and age, newspapers are becoming obsolete, being replaced by the instantaneous updates provided by online news sources. These online sources encompass the same high level of reporting and editing quality that tangible medium publications are able to. So one could ask the question as to why would online publications be subject to different laws than tangible ones? They should not be. Period. Robert Earthman, Q. C. Backs up this point by simply stating It shouldnt make a difference if a publication is on the internet or otherwise-they are both the exact same except for the medium . To begin with, many online publications are simply digitized versions of those printed. Many instances of tangible medium publications publish digitized versions in addition to their primary product. For example, when publishing an article, the Toronto Star uses the exact same piece for usage both online and in palpable form. According to the Canadian Bar Association, Journalists have some immunity to the law. If news was urgent, serious, of public importance, or used a reliable source, and tried to report [the] other side of the story, then a reporter is, on a general basis, able to defend themselves against a defamation law suit. So if an online report falls into one of these categories, shouldnt a reporter be able to protect their own self? Many credible articles are published solely online, on websites such as trinitrotoluene. Com and counterarguments. Org. Obviously these online only news sources are Just as credible as tangible medium ones, and therefore should have the privilege of using he same defenses as such. Online only publications are written by Journalists the same ones who write tangible medium ones. Furthermore, the Merriam Webster Dictionary sates that a Journalist is a person engaged in Journalism; especially: a writer or editor for a news medium. Obviously this simple definition can be applied to those who write for digital news agencies. During the landmark Grant v Tartar case, the Judge concluded that the reporter did everything he should have done when creating his report, but Grant did not want to comment on his side of the story, which was his own choosing. The Judge allowed the reporter the use of the public interest detente, knowing that the article was published on the internet as well . In conclusion, online publications are Just as reputable as tangible medium publications, and therefore should still be allowed the use of the Public Interest defense. Due to the fact that people are able to publish opinionated statements with no grounds, and call them the truth, and the ability to lie about credentials on the World Wide Web, private websites such as blobs should not be permitted the use of the public interest defense. During the Randall v Which case, a Judge dismissed the charges, and stated the following: considerations which militate in favor of a moderate award include the fact that [t]he [defamatory] allegations are so lacking in substance and detail that most people would be inclined to dismiss them as the outpourings off malcontent. The Judge realized that the defamer had made such a dumb allegation, lacking substance and detail and therefore granted a mild award to the defamed. This outcome Just goes to prove the amount of nonsense that people are able to post on the internet, as their publications are not edited. For example, if Morgan Animism was developing a subdivision, and one was to simply post a statement saying that Morgan Animism killed rabbits to develop houses, the defamer should not be allowed to argue such, as public interest- it simply wastes the courts time. On another note, the credibility of internet speech poses a huge problem for all. Readers are unlikely to discount credibility of internet speech, even if it is anonymous. People feel like they can post without consequence, as the intent is anonymous. As online messages are able to encompass so many grammatical, spelling, etc. Ross as they are vastly unedited, they can lead to huge misunderstandings between what the original author intended to write, and what an average person would deduce. Additionally, people online tend to write things as fast as possible, ignoring incorrect facts, grammar, etc. For example, the meaning of a sentence could be completely changed by misspelling words such as theyre and their. In summation, due to the fact that the Internet allows freedom to publish with no prior approval or consent, and that people are able to post utterly ridiculous statements, private publishers should not be allowed to use the public interest offense. Contrary to all which is mentioned above, people may state that the defense should not be available for use when dealing with online defamation, as traditional news sources are either in print, on the radio, or on the television. The fact of the matter is that many more people are receiving their news online nowadays, and evidently traditional print newspapers and broadcasts are becoming less and less popular. The internet is the medium which people in the 21st century are turning to for mass communication, and laws should be adjusted to suit such changes. Additionally, people may say that the defense should be available for anyone online, provided that the person has the proper grounds and evidence if possible. As long as the guidelines for the defense are followed, it should not make a difference who the defense is used by, whether the defamation be online or otherwise. For example, sometimes individuals publish things which publishing entities cannot get their hands on, and should therefore have a defense in case of being sued for defamation. With the amount of news sources publishing articles on a regular basis, and with the technology available in todays day and age, it is next to impossible to not have a way to contact said agencies. With the amount of nonsense, and credibility issues that the online community is taxed wit , woo be a lot easier for the public and Justice systems, if one was to simply submit their information to a valid source, where it could be thoroughly researched by experienced and qualified persons. Ultimately, since the Internet is becoming such an important tool in everyday life, and how easy it is to contact a news source with todays technology, official online publishing entities should have the right to use the public interest defense. In conclusion, because of how effortless it is for private publications to post completely opinionated, made-up stories and dub them as the truth on the internet, personal publications should not be allowed the privilege of using the public interest defense. On the contrary, since there are many trusted publications which circulate solely on the internet, and the fact that many major news outlets post their stories on the internet, press publications (as defined above), should be allowed use of the defense. As online publications are still valid publications, they should still be treated s such in the eyes of the law. As there are many privileges given to Journalists in relation to public interest defenses, and the definition of a Journalist covers those who are employed by online news mediums, they should be entitled to the same privilege as those employed by tangible publications. As such a large amount of individuals have access to publishing on the WWW, compared to tangible medium publications, it needs to be more controlled, and one way to do so is by restricting the use of the defense solely to professional Journalists. Additionally, due to the activist atmosphere of the internet, the amount of misunderstanding through online mediums, and lack of editing, private publications should not be permitted use of the defense. In reality, defamation law plays a huge role in daily life. People need to be educated in relation to online defamation especially, considering that so many youngsters are online, and do not tend to think about the consequences when posting defamatory statements on social networking websites. Specifically in regards to the public interest defense, whether it can be used online can make a huge impact, considering the amount of online publications in this day and age.