Journalists have not only the right to report the news, but an obligation. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
In fact, the importance of a free and independent press was codified when Judge Sir William Blackstone determined that government could not stop the press from publishing (Commentaries on English Law, 1765-70). Early legal scholars agreed that the press was a way to fight the abuse of power, as it exposed government offences. Mr. President James Madison himself agreed when the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) cited the press as a “great bulwark of liberty,” asserting a free press protects liberty and that its freedom must not be violated.
The rights of the press have been challenged throughout the years: the Sedition Act of 1798, Near v. Minnesota in 1931, New York Times v. U.S. in 1971 and others. But in the end, the rights of the press to publish, to inform and to “serve the governed, not the governors” (Supreme Court) have been upheld.
The Founders knew that newspapers kept citizens informed. They allowed them to take good, knowledgable decisions about government. Since the government’s power comes from the people, the government can’t make good choices unless its constituents are well informed.
In May 2020, Nick Routley published Mapped: The State of Press Freedom Around the World for VisualCapitalist.com, and captured the number of people around the globe who don’t have free press. He further captured how free the press really is. The article is a most interesting and highly recommended read.
THE STRUGGLE
Reputable journalists defend these rights every day, sometimes at their own peril. Hundreds of journalists have been imprisoned and fined large amounts of money because they refused to identify their sources to the courts. Many more around the world have been put to death. Left-leaning and dictatorial governments like France, Canada, China and Russia control their media, filter content and use their police and judiciaries to enforce their political will.
Free press often comes at great cost.
Judges don’t like it when common folk refuse their orders, and the police are always more than willing to perform illegal searches, unlawful arrests and enact other measures of harassment, especially when they know they are not going to be held to account.
SIGNAL HIGH NEWS CORPORATION
Signal High News Corporation entirely supports a free and independent press. It is our position that the rights and privileges we enjoy as (reasonably) free journalists are often jeopardized, and that we are often called upon to assert our rights so as to avoid losing them.
Mr. President Ronald Reagan said once about freedom, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
We support the following organizations:
- U.S. Press Association
- International Federation of Journalists
- American Press Association, ca. 1882
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