Blog Post #4

 The United States Postal Service (USPS)

The United States Post Office is a significant invention. This communication network helped unit the colonies and win the American Revolution. It helped to create and serve democracy by creating an informed electorate and aided in building America into a global information and communication superpower.

It began in 1760 as The Committees of Correspondence when messages were sent in secret to dodge the British spies. In 1775 it became America’s very first government agency. It played an important role in helping establish our country because it made communication between the 13 colonies possible, helping unit them in the fight for freedom.

The office of the Postmaster General was established and the very first person to hold this office was Benjamin Franklin himself. This institution was created for the purpose of sharing messages and information such as news regarding American colonists wanting independence from the British crown. At first the Post Office was used mostly by businesses and the government because costs were high, however, in 1847 the first stamp became available. This made it affordable and possible for regular citizens to mail letters. The height of the Post Office was in 1901 when the United States had nearly 77,000 Post Offices nationwide. 

The Post Office has been in decline now for the century due in large part to new forms of communication. In the 1920’s telephones became more common in the average home, making it possible for people to call their families and friends rather than having to mail letters. Of course, the introduction of e-mail in the 1990’s had a similar effect in further declining the mailing of letters. Then competition from private carriers such as UPS, FedEx and DHL began to take some of the business of sending packages away from the Post Office. Further declines happened for more social and cultural reasons such as people wanting to go "
green" and pay bills paperless.

All of these declines, coupled with a recent pandemic and consumer price increases has lead the once mighty Post Office to a $6.9 billion financial loss in 2022. The very fate of the United States Post Office is now in jeopardy.

Blog Post #3

American Values of Free Expression

When I was going through what makes up the eight values of American free expression, I came to believe the two that I thought were the most notable are the "Discovery of Truth" and the idea of promoting tolerance.

These concepts, among others, are an essential part of democracy, because they allow people to express themselves and their ideas without fear of being persecuted by the government. In a free society, people can believe whatever they want to, say whatever they want to, without having the government criminalize any speech, including speech and beliefs that are critical of itself.

The concept of "Discovery of Truth" in the context of American free expression is actually quite simple. It states that all ideas should be allowed to freely exist among the population, and people should be able to choose what kinds of ideas they want to accept or reject, and the government cannot tell people what to think or believe in. This concept suggests that if these ideas are allowed to freely exist, the "best" and truest ideas will ultimately be the most prevalent.

Promoting tolerance is also another concept in free expression. It says that we do not need any kind of oppressive laws that punish people via the law just for saying something, because if something is really so bad in the first place then society itself will punish them instead, and it isn't a role the government should be taking. This also has to do with the idea of "subsequent punishment" in which it's only fair to punish someone for something that they've actually done.

Another important concept to me is the idea that "dissident" voices should be protected, no matter what they are or what they believe in. Just because someone's opinion is in the minority and they don't agree with the government or most of society, doesn't mean that it's okay to silence them and they too have every right to freely express their ideas and beliefs.

Finally, there is also the concept of vertical checks. This says that the people themselves should take an active role in limiting and checking the government's power, by petitioning the government for change when they don't agree with its actions.

Blog Post #2

History of the United States Supreme Court

In my Media Law and Literacy class, I have learned a lot about the Supreme Court that I thought was very interesting and had never heard before. After reading the article, I've come to realize that the Supreme Court is certainly the most powerful and influential judicial system in the world.

Watching the video was also an eye-opening experience. The justices speak about what their experiences being part of the Supreme Court for the first time were some interesting perspectives to me. They talked about what it was like during their first days on the job, the first cases they argued, and being put in such a position of authority in this country.

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest-ranking court in the country, and it represents the judicial branch of the government. It has the authority to determine if any and all laws are constitutional or not, and establish precedents of federal law. This authority is an active and important part of the checks and balances system that keeps the three branches of government in check and limit their power.

An interesting piece of information presented by the sources is that the very first case the Supreme Court ever argued was a simple financial dispute, which I thought was unexpected. The video had also shown how the justices approach the issue of choosing which cases to argue, and which ones to ignore. This has to be done due to the sheer amount of cases that are sent up to the SCOTUS, so they have to choose the most important and notable ones.

How it works is if the Supreme Court does not argue a case that was sent to them by the lower court, that implicitly means that the Supreme Court upholds the decision made by the lower court. Many people will choose to argue with the decision that the state court or court of appeals made by sending their case to the SCOTUS, but very few will have their cases heard at the very highest level.

Blog Post #1

Top 5 News Sources I Use

Like many people of my generation, I am surrounded by information and media on a daily basis. I often rely on said information and media to get my knowledge of the latest world news. However, there are some particular sources of info that I prefer to use more commonly than others.

1. Fox News

Fox is usually the channel that I have running in the background on my TV, when I tune into the daily news. I tend to prefer it over other channels due to their opinion statements aligning more with my political beliefs and leanings. Despite this, I am aware of the bias that comes with this and thus understand that I need to consider that there may be another side to a political story that they talk about. Outside of politics, I find them to be a reliable source of news regarding other happenings around the world.

2. Twitter/X

Another way I get information about current world events is through Twitter (recently renamed by CEO Elon Musk to "X"). I follow a variety of different accounts, and I can see posts from those accounts from browsing my timeline. I don't actually use the app to post anything, and I have zero followers. Some of the accounts I follow include politicians, journalists, reporters, and other noteworthy public figures.

3. The BBC

Because of the fact that I don't want to listen exclusively to American sources for my news, I sometimes see what the British Broadcasting Company is talking about. They also cover global topics just like US-based publishers, but they also talk about things going on in the UK, which I think is important to also hear about from an American perspective, as it is at least somewhat relevant to our country as well, due to the US and UK being inherently linked together due to our history and relations.

4. Snapchat

I also use Snapchat, a social media app that's mainly used for communication in social circles. This app has a feature called "Discover" that shows some news stories from various different sources. I sometimes use this feature to gather information.

5. Word of Mouth

The final source of news that I would mention is simply talking to people in person, such as family, friends, classmates and professors. You would be surprised how many people around you keep up with the news from a variety of different sources, and would be willing to mention this information in casual conversation and provide their input and opinions.