To what extent do you think that it is your duty as a citizen to be 'informed'? Are you informed? How do you get to be informed about serious issues?

As a citizen I believe I have a right to be informed about the important issues that are going on; locally, regionally and Nationwide. I also believe I should know about the pressing global issues. This is the only way that the world can be equal, for everyone to be informed about important issues.

I don’t think that I am as informed as I should be, I believe that it is the governments duty to be informed and to pass on that information to the rest of the country. The government are forever covering up ad hiding news on global issues which in fact do have a great impact on many peoples lives. Take the war in Iraq, the government haven't actually stated why the country joined this war, it didn’t actually involve us, it seems to most people that the UK only joined this war because the USA told us to, and to keep them happy. What we here on the news from the government cant even really be trusted, either because nobody knows when they are telling the truth, and also not even the government are informed enough.

However this could be a good thing that the government are keeping things from the public. If they told us everything which was happening, it may cause a national, or even global panic which would definitely not help the situation. Take the ‘credit crunch’ this was perhaps not as bad as first seemed, however once it all came out in the media there was a big panic in the public where people started not spending and taking savings out of banks, if the media did not blurt out all the information they did, much of which may have been exaggerated, the situation may not be as bad as it now is, because if people didn’t know what was happening, they would have just carried on as usual.

At home, I believe I was quite well informed about what was happening in the world. I read news papers and watch regional, national and global news channels. This I think is how most issues are passed on from the government to the public, through the media. However, now I a m living in halls, it is much harder to keep up with the news that is occurring. As I have no TV signal is my room, I do not watch the news anymore and because I only read the news paper at home because they were there, I no longer read them as I really cant be bothered to get them religiously. I do however have an application on my laptop which shows the important news bulletins as the come out, so I am still getting informed about what is going on a little.

Complicated decisions, I believe should not be left to one, or a small group of people( the government), as people in the past fought long and hard for the right to have a vote and to show their say in matters. Working people pay for the country to be run, in taxes, so they should have a right to put in their own say about decisions.