Why the Press?

The First Amendment to our Constitution guarantees freedoms that should be enjoyed by all people: The freedom to speak one's opinion; to worship openly according to one's beliefs; to assemble peaceably; and to have unhampered access to information.

Some people today, particularly those born into this age of instantaneous and ubiquitous information, may not be entirely sure what is meant by "Freedom of the [printing] press." Before 1920, when radio began its rapid expansion, the printed word was the only source of information widely available. Tyrants, that is almost every reigning monarch at least through the 18th century, were well aware of the need to control information lest their subjects begin to suspect the Crown was neither all good nor all powerful. Thus the ownership of printing presses in countries across Europe was tightly controlled, and illegal possession of a press could be punishable by severe penalties including death.

Persecution of the press came to this side of the Atlantic with British rule. Virginia Royal Governor William Berkeley said this in 1642: “I thank God, there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels against the best government. God keep us from both!”

Even after the First Amendment had been in force for many years, there were continued attempts to muzzle the press. The 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868, expanded the protections of the First by forbidding any state to make a law abridging freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, and gave us the concept that all Americans must receive equal justice under law.

Today we speak of the "media" rather than the "press," but the protections on the dissemination of information still obtain. We are well aware of press suppression elsewhere: In Nazi Germany; in Russia, during and after the Soviet period; in China; and in other places.

But here? Well--in 1972 President Richard Nixon made it clear to his national security advisers that "The press is the enemy." And from the current president, whose attention span is limited to 140 letters: "I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth."

But reason can be found in some odd places. Here's Sen. John McCain, last month: "But the fact is we need you, we need a free press, we must have it. It's vital if you want to preserve — I'm very serious now — if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it I'm afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time."

--Richard Brown