Blog Post #4: 8 Values of Free Expression

Of the 8 Values of Free Expression that we discussed in class, I choose 3 to write my blog post on that I feel like I personally resonate the most with.

1. Marketplace of Ideas (aka Discovery of Truth)

I believe the Marketplace of Ideas is crucial to a democratic society. It is important to express your opinions and express and learn different opinions to learn that the truth will eventually come to fruition. This value of free expression is seen a lot in free and diverse news media nowadays. This accounts for that expression of views and allows a wide range of opinions and perspectives. I believe allowing people to express their thoughts and allow for debate in this day and age is healthy, especially in these upcoming generations that constantly are bombarded with fake news outlets and media.

3. Stable Change (aka Safety Valve)

The Stable Change value, commonly referred to as the Safety Valve, is a crucial expression. Providing safe, calm outlets for people to air out their complaints and frustrations such as peaceful protesting and stand-ins helps reduce violent outbursts and promote social stability. Social media sites, for example, can serve as a safety valve by giving individuals a safe outlet to air their concerns and complaints, thereby lowering the likelihood of violent protests or other types of disturbance. I believe it can also cause harm if there is all of a sudden a large group against the complaints and grievances that can turn into a larger issue. To ensure that this value of free expression does not have negative effects, this principle calls for a certain amount of trust in the government and social media companies.

7. Promote Innovation

This value is important to me because it allows the value of creativity and individual expression. As a Public Relations major it is important to me to have the value of expressing my creativity through my media and writing. Allowing people in societies to express themselves freely allows to societies to benefit from the ideas and innovations of these people. The best was promoting innovation has thrived in this day and age is through entrepreneurship. People starting up businesses that have used their creativity and mindset to create from the ground up has slowly benefited our society. Small business start-ups have turned into big businesses, such as Airbnb. One of the top online house rentals for vacation came from an innovative mind.