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Development Of Communication
Development Of Communication
Communication has been central to the development of the American economy since the past. It has made businesses more easy to transact, and managing resources to be cheaper. Moreover, the world has become a global village since the establishment of the communication. People can access their associates from whichever point in the world without necessarily traveling to those parts.
However, with the changes being experienced in technology, most of the earliest communication systems which laid the foundation for the future growth of the communication sector have diminished and faded into oblivion. This essay seeks to analyze such communication systems. Its goal is to trace the development of the earliest forms of communication including the pony express, postal system and the telegraph during the late eighteenth and mid nineteenth century. Furthermore, it will examine how the postal system worked, how many mails were sent out and how technology affected the system during that particular period. Specifically, it will use the works of Richard John and Glenn Bradley in analyzing its concepts. Hopefully, it will refresh our memories on some of the most important dates in communication development.
Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u Development of communication in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century PAGEREF _Toc377110049 h 2How did the postal system work? PAGEREF _Toc377110050 h 3How much mails went out and what were the costs? PAGEREF _Toc377110051 h 3How did technology affect the Postal System? PAGEREF _Toc377110052 h 3Bibliography of Primary Sources PAGEREF _Toc377110053 h 4
Richard John, author of the book ‘Spreading the News’ has decried the public’s failure to appreciate these early forms of communication especially the postal system. He feels that these forms and their study have been neglected of late because people tend to associate them with the old politics and ways of life. Glen Bradley on the other hand, in his book ‘The Story of the Pony Express’, believes these early forms of communication have been integral to the American economy for decades since their establishment. Therefore, they should be conserved or even furnished with new technology to keep up with the current generation.
Development of communication in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuryThis period witnessed the development of the postal system, telegraph and the telephone. The postal system for instance was created in the year seventeen seventy five under the watchful eye of the then postmaster general. Benjamin Franklin. However, it is the Postal Office Act of seventeen seventy two that Richard John believes was the building block of the postal system impact of the on the lives of many citizens of America. This act authorized newspaper spread via mails, established a base for the spread of the system throughout the whole of America and provided security for the mail users. The pony express on the other hand, came into being during the post gold discovery era in California in the eighteen sixties. It was meant to serve the increasingly growing population in the states of California, Oregon, Nevada and Utah. The people involved in its establishment were the likes of William Waddell, Alexander Majors and Russell Williams. Pony express was the earliest quick transit and mail line from the Coast of the Pacific to River Missouri. In this system, messages were carried by people riding on horse backs across the jungles and even deserts. However, it lasted for only sixteen months as the invention of the telegraph ran it out of business. The non electric telegraph was invented in seventeen ninety two by Claude Chappe however, with the invention of electricity many telegraphs came into being such as the ones made by Samuel Soemmering in eighteen hundred and William Sturgeon in eighteen twenty five.
How did the postal system work?During the early nineteenth century, the Post Office department used stagecoaches to ferry mails and commuters along the post roads to their eventual destinations. In towns linked by rivers, steam boats were used to transport the mails. Especially, in eighteen twenty three waterways became more dominant mail transport routes because they were relatively safer and less prone to accidents. Ships sailing from New York, transported mails all the way to Panama. From there, they were moved through the isthmus into San Francisco. This process was supposed to take up to four hours. Alternatively, horses over short distance while overland mail delivery was effected between San Francisco, Missouri and Tripton. Mails were normally delivered ones or twice a day in areas where the routes were busy and once every week in small towns
How much mails went out and what were the costs?The exact numbers of mails transported through various systems have been difficult to trace. This might have been due to the erosion of some of the data collected. However, the actual costs can be given. In eighteen forty three, the cost of transferring a single page letter which had an average weight of about twenty five ounce was about fifteen cents. The average cost of ferrying mails via the stage coaches was about four cents per mile compared to about three and a half cents charged for using a horse. Apparently, the cost of using railroads was a bit higher. The regulators charged about five and a half cents per ton, per mile for using the rail. This is because it was relatively safer and less prone to accidents.
How did technology affect the Postal System?With the invention of automobiles and steam ships both overland transport and sea transport of mails were made possible. Transport also became faster such that deliveries could be made within a single day in easily accessible areas. The use of horses to transport mails also became lesser with time because using a horse was more demanding and cumbersome. With the invention of electricity, more effective telegrams emerged thereby accelerating the collapse of the Pony Express system. The invention of the telephone by Graham Bell in the late nineteenth century made it possible for the monitoring of mail movements along transport routes.
Old communication systems still remain very essential assets to our economy. They not only provide templates for the design of better communication systems but also have preserved our culture and heritage. We should therefore learn to appreciate them.
Bibliography of Primary SourcesGlen Bradley: The Story of The Pony Express, 1913, University of Toledo. Press, 1997
Richard John. Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Chapman, Arthur. The Pony Express: The Record of a Romantic Adventure in Business. New
York. Publishers, 1932
Fuller. W: The American Mail: Enlarger of the Common Life. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1974.
Stimson, A.L: The History of the Express Business. New York: A.L. Stimson Press.1851.
Paul Martin Lester, Visual Communication with Infotrac: Images with Messages, Thomson
Wadsworth Press, 2005
Munro, John: Heroes of the Telegraph, London: The Religious tract society, 1891
Baker, Burton H: The Gray Matter: The Forgotten Story of the Telephone, Telepress, St.
Joseph, MI, 2000
Cliffs, N.J: Growth and Welfare in the American Past. Englewood Prentice-Hall House,
1980.
Spooner, L: The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner. Weston Mass, M&S Press, 1971.
Critical Analysis of Chapter 4, 5 and 6 of Exploring Criminal Justice
Critical Analysis of Chapter 4, 5 and 6 of Exploring Criminal Justice
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There is much to understand from ‘The Essentials of Criminal Justice’ where criminal justice begins with the accused or the criminal. In order for justice to be served, the police system is also something to put into consideration. There is a strong relationship between the courts, juvenile justice system, policy making, administration, corrections, Law and law enforcement. Since there exists deviance in the society, there is need for correction systems to help rehabilitate criminal offenders. Despite deviance in the society, there is need for a justice system to determine whether the accused is guilty and later on give a correct judgment with a corresponding punishment according to the offence and not harsh punishment for small crime. Police play a big role in administering justice. The paper writes a critical analysis of chapter 4, 5 and 6 of the text ‘Exploring Criminal Justice’ by Robert M. Regoli, John D. Hewitt, and Anna E. Kosloski. There is a lot to discover about the police system.
First, Chapter 4 gives information on the history of the police system. Police did not start working in the 20th century but as early as the colonial era back in 18th century. There have been several reforms in the police systems to see the police service we have today (Regoli, Koloski, & Hewitt, 2007). For instance, the police department initially performed few duties but today their duties are extended to a point the police can give fines as well as question a criminal just like a prosecutor would. Generally, the police department has changed today to perform many duties. This is important in the course study and to students since from this one can learn how far the police system have come from and what changes have been done in order to have a better police system today even though it is not perfect.
Chapter 5 on the other hand gives information on legal constraints that police have to encounter in the course of their work. There are several laws that have to be followed for instance search with warranty. There are some situations which can’t wait for the police to obtain a warrant in order to do a search because waiting might subject victims and the police to danger. However, it is the law and the accused can use search without warranty as defense (Schmalleger, et al., 2014). The chapter is important since it teaches some laws which one need to be aware of and how to respond to cases. In order for victims to help police in investigations they must understand some of the legal constraints and can work hand in with the police to obtain evidence adhering to law.
Lastly, chapter six gives the very many issues that the police department faces. Issues such as corruption, false accusations, desertion, and brutality is what is experienced today in the streets either from police side or the normal citizens. The issues make it hard for police to enforce law. The chapter also incorporates real life examples and previous cases on how different issues hinder police work. The chapter is important to the reader for one knows that it is not only the society that hinders the process of justice but the police too. These constraints can act as examples and one can use them as reference.
Conclusively, the authors clearly write the three chapters giving detains with examples. Also, important terms and notes are highlighted thus it is easier for the reader to scheme through to get an idea of what the chapters are about. There is a lot of information to learn about the police department and the authors do it well by explaining some of the details a reader should know.
Reference
Regoli, R. M., Hewitt, J. D., & Kosloski, A. E. (2016). Exploring Criminal Justice. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Schmalleger, F., Donaldson, S., Kashiwahara, K., Koppal, T., Chase, S., Brown, A., … & Marash, D. (2014). Criminal justice today. Prentice Hall.
A Case Study of the Foxconn Suicides An International Perspective to Framing the Sweatshop Issue
A Case Study of the Foxconn Suicides: An International Perspective to Framing the Sweatshop Issue
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The analysis done by the anti-sweatshop movement concerning the western mainstream media changed the perception of North American and European consumers towards the treatment of the laborers in the sweatshop-prone countries (Guo, Hsu, Holton and Jeong, 2012). The consumers discovered that western transnational corporations subjected workers in countries such as India and China to very deprived working situations. Low pay, discriminative treatment, and perilous environments characterized the working conditions better known as ‘sweatshop’. Suicide cases stirred up much ado about the sweatshop practices. However, the media chose to cast a blind eye to the major underlying problems of global social injustice and features of the global economy. Worldwide labor unions and various activists struggled to uncover the sweatshop issue but there was insignificant change. The labor practices in these companies had a negative impact on human rights and also reduced the rate of social and economic development. Social actors, such as the government, activists and international organizations gave their versions of the story. They wanted the public to get their opinion of the story. The news media have a significant role in presenting biased information. The Foxconn suicide is an example of an example of a global sweatshop issue that presented an ethical dilemma in the news media. The issue enveloped various issues such as global justice and human rights. Many individuals claim that the issue revealed ethical dilemmas in news media. The issue affected many stakeholders of the Foxconn group because the media gave different information regarding the events that took place. The analysis of the Foxconn suicide reveals various issues surrounding the sweatshop matter.
The Foxconn suicide is a global issue because of the controversial reports made by the media. Fourteen employees committed suicide in a span of thirteen months. The news media of the United States reported that the incident occurred in China, so they have no answers concerning the reasons why the individuals committed suicide. They claim that China should remain accountable because the employees who committed suicide were Chinese and not Americans. They framed China for the case, yet the two countries participated in running the Foxconn Group. They blamed the poor living conditions on the economy of the country and not the ethics of the organization. The ethical dilemma of the news media arises because the media did not acknowledge that the Foxconn group was a sweatshop. The employees provided cheap labor without any increment in their salaries. The worked under harsh working conditions and no one bothered to address their issues. Many people rely on the media to get news, so the media took advantage of this fact to provide information that favored each end of the social actors. The media should provide unbiased information to the public and should not give varying reports that favor significant parties. The United States media did not reveal the problems faced by the workers in the Foxconn group. They wanted the whole world to believe that the social and economic instability in China enhanced the deaths of the employees. The media also highlighted the issues facing the country, to cover up the inappropriate working conditions. The United States media linked the murder with the poverty level in the country and claimed that the Foxconn group had nothing to do with the suicide.
The news media use the deontological theory to address the issue of the Foxconn suicide. The deontological theory suggests that people should follow identified rules while performing their tasks. The news media gave reports that favored each social actor. When approached by the activists, they claimed that the Foxconn group was a sweatshop. The United States government framed China for the suicide. This made the media reveal the poverty in China. They highlighted other issues that enhanced the suicides to remove the United States government from the blame. The news media obeyed the rules made by the social actors because each of them had a significant role in the country. The news media also followed the utilitarian theory because they wanted to present news that would bring change to the lives of various individuals in the China. They presented the poor living conditions of the Chinese people to make the government address the issue. The breach also aimed at reducing the number of sweatshops in the region. The breach had an impact on the workers of the Foxconn Group and other sweatshops because consumers did not want to associate themselves with their products. The news media used these two theories because they had to obey the rules and also help many people in marginalized areas.
The ethical breach had direct or indirect impacts on various stakeholders. Steve Jobbs, a significant stakeholder of the company, claimed that the company was not a sweatshop. This statement had an immense impact on his company, Apple. Activists in China and the United States revealed that the company was a sweatshop. The deaths of the employees also acted as evidence against the claims of Steve Jobbs. His statement was controversial and seemed to favor the Foxconn group because portraying a negative impact of the group would affect the relationship of the two companies. The news media publicized Jobb’s statement and people had various opinions. Jobbs statement had a negative impact on the employees of his company and those of the Foxconn group. The breach made the employees believe that the two companies did not care about their welfare. The top most officials had more concern about the future of their businesses than they had about that of the employees. The breach also encourages more deaths of employees because they believe that their companies have no concern about their welfare. The breach also had a negative impact on the customers of Apple. Customers may not feel comfortable using products made by people who have no human rights. Apple products are expensive, so the employees should also benefit from the profits of the company. The perception of the customers will also affect the sales of the two companies.
The government plays a significant role in ensuring companies pay their taxes and making laws that enhance the progress of the company. The ethical breach also has an impact on the governments of the two countries. The governments of the two countries failed to play their full role in running of the Foxconn Group. The world develops a negative view of the United States government because they failed to address the issues affecting the Foxconn employees. The United States played a significant role in running the Foxconn Group. The government had the responsibility of ensuring that the workers had an appropriate working environment. The United States government claimed that the issues happened in China, so the government of China should take the blame. The Chinese government also neglected the human rights of the Foxconn group employees. The ethical breach also had a negative impact on the Chinese government because they portrayed it as a failed government. The Chinese left the rural areas to work in companies such as the Foxconn group because they wanted to survive. This meant that the government of China made insignificant efforts to develop the rural areas. These people were desperate for jobs, so they did not care about the working conditions. They felt that they could persevere but when they realized that even work places cannot solve their problems, they opted for suicide. This issue portrays a negative picture of the Chinese government and the companies in China. The ethical breach made people believe that all companies in China misuse manpower to make profits, although this may not be the case. The local authorities must ensure that companies follow laws and regulations required by the law. The breach also had a negative impact on the local authorities because the whole world knows that they did not follow up on the activities of the company and the way they treated their employees. The local authorities had they responsibility of presenting the issues facing the workers to the judiciary. The employees committed suicide because they felt that there was no one who cared for their welfare. They believed that the government and the local authorities played an insignificant role in changing their situation.
The breach had a positive impact on the employees of the Foxconn Group. Activists painted an awful picture of the company through the media. They claimed that the group was a sweatshop company, so the company had to take several measures to protect its name. The company identified the characteristics of a sweatshop company and decided to eliminate them from their group. They increased the salaries of their employees to make people believe that the suicides were not linked to the Foxconn Group. They also gave their employees psychological assistance to discourage other employees from committing suicide. They also introduced no-suicide contracts and worker rallies, and placed safety nets around their buildings. According to Steve Jobbs, Foxconn Group made these efforts to prevent suicide cases, but the number of suicides still increased.
Ethical decision making is a process that requires analysis of ethical rules, principles and virtues (Trevino and Nelson, 2004). It also requires maintenance of relationships to guide the decision-making process. People should make ethical decisions when faced with dilemmas. Structuralism, phenomenalism and constructivism are aspects that enhance ethical decision making (Kohlberg and Colby, 2010). Structuralism suggests that people should analyze behavioral patterns that influence the actions of an individual or group. Phenomenalism is an approach that considers the subjects point of view when making decisions while constructivism is about creating new meanings from the situation at hand. Everyone, including individual violators, is accountable for disobedience of ethics, but prosecutors should consider the factors that led to the act. People have various reasons behind their actions, so the ethical process involves a number of steps to make efficient decisions. The steps include problem identification, collection of relevant information, evaluation and analysis of alternatives, decision making, implementation and review of the action. The decision makers may consider the consequences of the actions to determine the purpose of the violation. They may also consider the entitlements of the subjects or distributive and procedural justice.
All organizations have a corporate social responsibility. The have discretionary responsibilities that require them to be noble corporate citizens. They should contribute resources that improve the quality of lives of the people in the community. Organizations also have ethical responsibilities that compel them to engage in actions that cause no harm. They should make just and fair decisions. They also have a legal responsibility of obeying the law, so they should go by the rules of the country. All organizations have economic responsibilities that make them profitable. Economic responsibility is the foundation of all organizations. The Foxconn Group neglected some of these responsibilities. They neglected the ethical responsibility by unjust decisions that led to harm. The inappropriate working conditions contributed to the deaths of their employees.
Conclusion
The news media has a significant role in the economic development of a country. The news presented by the media may have a positive or negative impact on the progress of a company. The news media also use various theories when they reveal issues to the public. Social actors also have a significant role in the news media operations. The government, activists and international organizations are significant figures in a country, so the news media has to follow most of what they say. Disobedience may have an immense impact on the media house. Sweatshops still exist in the modern world. Many companies misuse the human labor force to make huge profits. They humiliate their employees and give them low salaries because they know that these people have no voice or choice. They also discriminate against some employees and have inappropriate working conditions. Some shareholders are also inconsiderate of the welfare of the employees. Deontological, consequentialism and utilitarianism are theories that enhance decision-making. The deontological theory suggests that people should follow rules. Utilitarianism advises people to do things that have a positive impact on the majority while consequentialism urges people to concentrate on matters that will have beneficial endings. People should consider various aspects when making decisions to benefit the society. They should analyze the factors that lead to a subject’s behavior, the point of view of the subject and the societal norms. Individual violators should face the consequences of their actions. No one should violate the ethics of an organization for personal benefits. Ethical decisions are vital because some have a direct or indirect impact on the society. It requires adequate analysis of various aspects that trigger violation. All decision makers must follow the ethical decision-making process to ensure that the subject gets fair judgmental organizations have a social corporate responsibility that enhances their progress. The scrutiny of individual and organizational violators has the same steps. The discretional, ethical, legal and economic responsibilities assist the companies to meet various goals. Companies that fulfill these responsibilities attract many clients. The Foxconn Group should admit their mistakes and work towards improving the situation in the company. They should think about the future of their company. Once they admit their mistake, the consumers may react negatively to the news, but will appreciate the efforts made by the company to remove itself from the sweatshop category. If they continue to deny the fact, people will struggle to look for aspects that link them with sweatshops. This will make consumers continue to reject their products.
References
Guo, L., Hsu, S., Holton, A. and Jeong, H.S. (2012). A case study of the Foxconn suicides: An
international perspective to framing the sweatshop issue. International Communication Gazette, 74(5), 484–503. doi: 10.1177/1748048512445155.
Kohlberg, L. and Colby, A. (2010). The Measurement of Moral Judgment, Volume. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Trevino, L. K., and Nelson, K. A. (2004). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to
do it right. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.