Home

About

Contents

Guidelines

Glossary

Contacts

Discussion

Recent Discussion

Create New Topic

Membership

Join Now

Login

Freedom brings responsibility

Recognize World Press Freedom Day by recognizing your own responsibilities.

Your first responsibility is to recognize what press freedom is. As Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black said in the Times versus Sullivan case in 1964, "An unconditional right to say what one pleases about public affairs is what I consider to be the minimum guarantee of the First Amendment."

Your second responsibility is to recognize why press freedom is important. The cornerstone of democracy is not that majority rules, but that a good idea can come from anywhere, and that each individual deserves the right to try to convince others that there might be a better way to do something. You owe it to yourself to have the humility to consider that sometimes you think you are right even when you are not.

Your third responsibility is to recognize that press freedom applies to everyone. A country that represses free expression or that tries to license it is a danger to us all.

Your fourth responsibility is to judge. Just as a good idea can come from anywhere, a bad idea can come from anywhere. Be vigilant. Hone your own detection skills to discern what radio, television, and print comments are self-interested, baseless, malicious, or simply wind. You have all the wit needed to do this. Simply match talk with experience. Ludicrous examples like the former Iraqi Information Minister's performance and worldwide reporting of it demonstrate that both what is said and how something is reported must be judged.

For your own safety's sake and for that of civilization, your final responsibility is to protect and extend press freedom at home and abroad.

Discuss

[Macro error: Can't find a sub-table named "commentIt".]