EDITORIAL: Value of free journalism should be focus today
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It's First Amendment Day, and that means so much more than a free lunch (but there is one on Central Campus from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. if you're interested).
It means so much more because we're living in an era in which the government has wantonly disregarded personal liberties. It's an era that has also seen an entire new level of bureaucracy tossed in at the federal level - the Department of Homeland Security. Since 9/11, Congress has passed plenty of legistlation expanding the powers of the executive branch in the name of national security such as the PATRIOT and REAL ID acts. President Bush has had his way with the system of checks and balances through his unprecedented use of signing statements. Expanded executive branch powers aren't uncommon in wartime, but this "war" is unique - it doesn't have to end.
It goes without saying that the First Amendment means something extra to journalists, since it theoretically guarantees our freedom to do our jobs - our livelihood.
That's getting harder as we see journalists thrown in jail for withholding their sources. In January, we saw the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, a decision which said the First Amendment rights to speech and to the press didn't fully count in high schools and that high school administrators had the right to censor students' publications.
It's a decision that's had ramifications at many levels. In high schools in 44 states, students can learn journalism, but they can only practice it to the degree that their high school administrator feels it OK.
By taking the pens out of the hands of high school students, though, the Supreme Court has negatively affected journalism at all levels: Less awareness and passion fostered at the high school level carries on to the pool of students studying it at the college level and then professional journalists in the real world.
Today is a day to remember that, as Americans, we're guaranteed five things above all others: the right to free speech, the right to freely practice any religion we choose, the right to peacefully assemble, the right to a free press and the right to petition the government. In the past seven years, we've seen so many facets of these liberties crumble.
That needs to stop. We're Americans, and we shouldn't tolerate the erosion of our rights. As is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
It means so much more because we're living in an era in which the government has wantonly disregarded personal liberties. It's an era that has also seen an entire new level of bureaucracy tossed in at the federal level - the Department of Homeland Security. Since 9/11, Congress has passed plenty of legistlation expanding the powers of the executive branch in the name of national security such as the PATRIOT and REAL ID acts. President Bush has had his way with the system of checks and balances through his unprecedented use of signing statements. Expanded executive branch powers aren't uncommon in wartime, but this "war" is unique - it doesn't have to end.
It goes without saying that the First Amendment means something extra to journalists, since it theoretically guarantees our freedom to do our jobs - our livelihood.
That's getting harder as we see journalists thrown in jail for withholding their sources. In January, we saw the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, a decision which said the First Amendment rights to speech and to the press didn't fully count in high schools and that high school administrators had the right to censor students' publications.
It's a decision that's had ramifications at many levels. In high schools in 44 states, students can learn journalism, but they can only practice it to the degree that their high school administrator feels it OK.
By taking the pens out of the hands of high school students, though, the Supreme Court has negatively affected journalism at all levels: Less awareness and passion fostered at the high school level carries on to the pool of students studying it at the college level and then professional journalists in the real world.
Today is a day to remember that, as Americans, we're guaranteed five things above all others: the right to free speech, the right to freely practice any religion we choose, the right to peacefully assemble, the right to a free press and the right to petition the government. In the past seven years, we've seen so many facets of these liberties crumble.
That needs to stop. We're Americans, and we shouldn't tolerate the erosion of our rights. As is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
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