EOTO 2 Presentation

Whistleblowers: What Does It Entail?

A whistleblower is someone who reports on the corruption of an organization to someone who is in the position to rectify the wrongdoing. The whistleblower is usually "blowing the whistle" on alleged waste, fraud, abuse, and dangers of public health and safety. Along with almost everything, whistleblowing has its positives and negatives. The positives include people are now aware of the wrongdoing,  the corruption can be fixed with external awareness, and those responsible can be held accountable. There are also negatives which include putting careers at risk, it can lead to retaliation and rioting, a whistleblower could be known as a traitor, and they could also put themselves and others at risk of harm. 

Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden whistleblew on the United States government and it shocked society and changed the way we view our government. Chelsea Manning was an officer in the United States Army during the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. He leaked documents and videos of the war to Julian Assange, the head of Wikileaks, for him to publish. The article included 15,000 unreported civilian deaths and reported that the United States failed to investigate reports of abuse and torture of detainees. On the other hand, Edward Snowden is the reason why we know that the government is spying on its citizens. He leaked Project Prism to the public which was a government program created after 9/11 and its intended purpose was to surveil all communications, tap into internet platforms, and spy on leaders of other countries. 

 

Privacy

The State of Privacy 

The state of privacy in the world is something that should have everyone worried. Social media platforms and internet search engines and completely violate the privacy we should be entitled to when we decide to use their platform. They are currently selling our cookies to third parties, sharing our information, sharing our contacts, and creating marketing profiles based on what we do on their platform. 

What Should the Government be Doing about Protecting Privacy?

While the "right to privacy" is nowhere in the Constitution, there is a concept of right to privacy created by the Supreme Court over time. While there is that concept of "right to privacy", our own government is in violation too. Currently, the United States federal government is spying on its own people under the Patriot Act. Every call, communication, and google search we do, is monitored and archived by the government. The first step for the government to do prevent social media platforms and internet search engines from data mining its users. This will prevent their platforms from remembering our use of their platform and creating algorithms catered to the user. Second, the government needs to repeal the Patriot Act. They do not have the right to completely invade and monitor every aspect of a law abiding citizen's life "in the name of national security."

EOTO 1 Reaction

 The Creation of Hulu 

I think it was really cool to hear about the creation of Hulu because I thought it was always loosely based on creating a competitor for Netflix. The key difference between Hulu and Netflix is all that it includes. Unlike Netflix, Hulu includes live TV along with 95 TV channels. Uniquely it also has live sports. Previously, you could only watch the NFL on Fox which made Hulu was the first streaming platform to include live sports. 

EOTO 1 Presentation

The Radio

The radio was first invented by Guglielmo Marconi in 1899. He was an Italian innovator the first discovered radio waves by transmitting frequencies. Despite his great discovery, the radio never received any attention until Reginald Fessenden revolutionized it by emitting the first long distance radio broadcast in 1906. He was able to broadcast the results sailing race from Long Island all the way the Virginia which led to people experimenting to the radio. Eventually, Edwin Armstrong discovered the FM radio waves and was able to take large broadcasts and move them into smaller channels. 

Marconi, Fessenden, and Armstrong improved on the development of the radio because they saw the convenience and effectiveness of the radio as a form of communication, especially long distance. In addition to revolutionizing communication, the radio provided a platform for news, political communication, sporting events, and music. For example, the first presidential debate took place on a radio broadcast. This is a culturally significant moment because it marked a long lasting tradition of a two presidential candidates debating for the whole country to watch or listen. The most effective use of the radio was displayed through President Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous "Fireside Chats." FDR would sit next to a fire and effectively update the entire country about the state of World War II. This greatly increased morale throughout the country which led to the United States winning the war. 

Antiwar

Why aren't Antiwar Voices Prevalent in the Mainstream Media?

War is the one topic where the other side never seems to get the platform to rebuttal. Why is that? The United States government makes the most money and is the most powerful when the country is at war or performing small scale military operations around the world. The companies that they give military contracts to are the biggest, most powerful companies in the entire world. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, and Northrup Grumman are among the top 4 biggest military contractors in the United States. They have endless amounts of spending money to give to political candidates and mainstream media news sources to suppress their efforts in providing antiwar talking point and antiwar speakers the platform they need to raise awareness. In addition, war creates more news stories for the mainstream media which leads to more viewers and eventually turns into more revenue. 

In order to find antiwar voices, you must find obscure websites such as Antiwar. Surprisingly, I have never heard of this website. I like to think that I am very well versed in the political arena and all of the different perspectives of every issue, but I wondered why I have never thought about the antiwar perspective and who the key figures are behind it. You do not hear any of these strong voices and activists because it all goes back to the antiwar view not being back by any money. While some of the population may be antiwar, there is no coalition or PAC to back it up unlike the pro-war view. The pro-war view is backed by fortune five hundred companies, the government, and the media. With all of that stacked up against the antiwar cause, there is little to no chance for any effective awareness to be raised. 

Final Blog Post

My Relationship with Technology 

Despite being born in 21st Century, my relationship with technology is very balanced. The biggest driving factor behind this is my inability to be "tech savvy" and keep up with all the newest innovations in the metaverse. My use of technology and the online world consists of almost strictly communication, news, research, and streaming movies and shows on television. One of the most controversial uses of technology is information which happens to be one of my primary sources. There is a lot of controversy because people question its reliability. There have been many studies that have clearly shown that the public is far less informed before internet was born. I agree that there is far more unreliable news in the online world than reliable, but I blame the readers for not using reputable sources and fact checking their information. When I look for news, I use sources such as C-SPAN and the Congressional Research Service which eliminates the possibility of getting disinformation. 

My Friends and Family's Relationship with Technology

While I am not worrying about my time spent in the metaverse, I do fear those around me. I have friends that have fallen to gambling debts because of its legalization. I have younger family members that are "iPad kids" and cannot go anywhere without watching YouTube or playing video games. Despite these issues, I still think that generally the positives of technology outweigh the negatives. For example, I was talking to some of my friends who are currently in law school and we discussed how it is so much easier for them to learn because they can google any case and find the research that they need versus when my dad was in law school, he had to go to the library and sit down and search for hours through a book to find the research or case he needed to use. The positives of technology also outweighs the negatives because of the role it plays in our relationship. Communication is the most essential use of modern technology and the way it revolutionized how we communicate makes the online world the greatest innovation is the history of humanity. I am able to instantly communicate with multiple friends and family members across the globe because of technology. 

My Online Footprint 

Before I googled myself, I thought I was going to have no digital footprint because of previously I haven't found myself on the internet. While I do have a footprint, it is very small. I have a LinkedIn profile and picture of a LinkedIn account that I have never once used and most likely can't even access. A couple of political interviews that I have done with local High Point media outlets popped up as well an Inside Lacrosse recruitment profile that IL set up. With that being my entire online presence, I do not think employers will ever take it into their consideration whether to hire me or pass on me as a candidate for a position. There is no substance to any of my online footprint. It is very hard for an image to come to mind if I am just looking at my online presence because all it tells me is that Will Scholtes is a student at High Point University that is interested in politics and played lacrosse in high school. If I had to pick one of the three pieces of my profile to edit out, it would be the political interviews. I think my ability to communicate my talking points as an interviewee has strengthen significantly over the ages and it is not an accurate reflection of where I am at today. 

Eight Values of Free Expression

Which Value Resonates with Me the Most?

When considering the eight values of free expression, protecting dissent and promoting tolerance resonated with me the most and the two are practically intertwined. Throughout the course of history, minority groups have not been given the platform or representation that they deserve which has lead to their severe lack of protection. The most prominent example of the promotion of tolerance and the protection of dissent in United States history is the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's. African Americans were facing discrimination and were a greatly under-represented minority group. With these two values of free expression, the Civil Rights movement was able to make great change in our government system and society which lead to African Americans receiving equal rights. 

The protection of the dissent and the promotion of tolerance resonates with me the most because our society and government are lacking these free expression values the most. This is in large part due to the cancel culture movement that we are seeing across all social media platforms. In recent news, Bill Clinton's former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, called for the arrest of Elon Musk for removing all of X's (formerly known as Twitter) censor restrictions and interviewing 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump. This is also not just one instance. He has consistently promoted censorship and called for the arrest of the that do not comply because of their protected speech.

While I do not have the audience of Elon Musk, the promotion of tolerance and the protection of the dissent affects me significantly. With everything that is going on in the world today, I fear speaking my mind on an online platform or even in public for that matter due to popularity of recording. When I log onto a social media platform, I always see someone being harassed for a having differing view and I always worry that can happen to me and that it might even affect me down the road with a job. Granted, I have never said or will say anything hateful, but I do find myself in the minority opinion or disagreeing opinion. In addition, you never know what you could be canceled for these days. I didn't think I'd ever see the day where people would call for your arrest because you interviewed a United States presidential candidate that received over 17 million votes in their primary. 

Which Value Is the Most Important to Me?

When considering which of the eight values of free expression is most important to me, check on governmental power came right to mind. We all know that the founding fathers set up the structure of our government as a system of checks and balances, but how does the role of the governed place checks on the government? The constituents of the National, State, County, and Local governments can place a check on government in a plethora of ways that can positively affect change. 

A free press protected in the First Amendment allows for any abuses by the government to be effectively communicated to voters across the country. This causes a ripple affect as constituents reading the messages reported by the press can take multiple courses of action. The most popular course of action is taking it to the ballot. Within the United States National government, constituents vote for the House of Representatives every two years, the president every four years, and the Senate every six years. This ensures that the government is held responsible to the voters. 

Another course of action that is also protected in the First Amendment is the right of the people to peaceably assemble (the right to protest). If the government is abusing its power, you can check it by protesting in any public forum. The course of action that makes this value of free expression the most important to me is advocacy which also happens to be protected by the First Amendment. I am working towards a career in lobbying and want to advocate for issues that the government has the power to address. Last spring, I worked with a team of advocates to lobby bill H.R.345  or "The Trust in Congress Act" to the House of Representatives to prevent insider trading within Congress. We asked members of Congress to cosponsor the bill and for the members of the House Administration committee to bring it to a vote. We were able to present the bill as a winnable issue as 87% of Americans believed that insider trading within Congress is currently an issue and received multiple cosponsors. Now, the government doesn't necessarily have to listen to protesters or advocates, but it puts pressure on them to do something about the

issue. It is also an effective check of the government because a politician's number one goal is to be re-elected and they will likely want to work with protestors and advocates so that they are a more winnable candidate for future elections.

What Value Do I See the Most in the Modern Era?

The participation in self-government is the most common value of free expression that I see in the modern era, especially in 2024 because it is an election year. Both U.S. presidential candidates are currently trying to effectively communicate their policies and address concerns so that the voters can be well informed when they get to the ballot. Recently, the Trump/Vance campaign sent Senator Vance to sit down and do the Meet the Press interview with NBC News to share their stances and policies on popular issues while also addressing any concerns for voters. On the other side of the aisle, the Harris/Walz campaign both sat down with Dana Bash on CNN This Morning to take their own stances on popular issues and address the concerns their voters have with their campaign. 

On September 10th, Former-President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will be debating each other for the first time. This is their opportunity to take a stance on issues and address concerns with their opponent's policies for the whole nation to see. This is a crucial part in the participation of self-government because we want the public to be as informed as they can be when they get to the ballot box. When the voters are highly informed and vote in high numbers, it significantly increases the legitimacy of new government when it takes office in January 2025.