Brushfire of Freedom
The Armory
Originally published on March 31st, 2009 at Brushfire Sparks
“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.”
Freedom of the press. The third most important right of the people because our founders knew that the press was designed to be an extension of the voice of the people. They knew that a watchdog press should and would oversee the actions of those in government and drive them toward the will of the people. The had seen first hand the value of a free press during the revolution, when posters, pamphlets, and local newspapers had defined the views of the colonies and helped fan the flames that forged this nation. The press is a key asset of the people, a protected right, and if properly practiced, a potential barrier against the corruption that tends to result from power.
One of the forgotten factors regarding our rights is the need for responsibility. We have the right to free speech and we are required to be responsible in the practice of that right. We have the right to freedom of religion with a similar requirement. These rights are protected for all Americans. The free press is protected to benefit all Americans, but the responsibility rests with those who are “practitioners of the art”. Freedom of the press protects our members of the media from forced government controls and influence, and it is thus the responsibility of those same members of the press to ensure they perform their duties, acting as watchdogs of the government.
As with many of the rights in the first ten amendments, a failure to exercise these rights openly and frequently is a step toward losing those rights. It is the responsibility of the possessor of the right to ensure the right is not lost. Many of our current media outlets are failing in their responsibility of exercising free press, and are in increasing danger of losing that right. One need only look back to the 2008 election to see the failure of the media in exercising free press. They have even admitted to this failure, though they have failed to mend the error of their ways. They’ve become lapdogs to a specific political philosophy, and their bias is now thickly woven in the tapestry of their craft.
One example of failure brought forward by the media; failure to know who B. Hussein Obama was as he was running for President of the United States. We actually had members of our “free press” admitting just weeks before the election that they did not know much about one of the two major candidates for the highest executive office in our country. These are the people whose press credentials can provide them access to places and people that a member of the general public cannot access. It is their responsibility to utilize that access, to find everything they can on each candidate, and to report their findings in an objective manner to the voters of this nation. For the government of this nation to be effective, it requires an educated electorate. The media has a responsibility to provide as much information about every candidate for office to ensure the electorate has the needed facts to make an effective decision. If the members of the press do not “know who Barack Obama is...”, how can the voting public be expected to know anything about him? We are not on his planes and busses, we can not sit him down for an interview. We rely on our “watchdog” media to use their right to free press and properly inform the public. They have failed, and have admitted to failure, in the 2008 election.
Failure to practice our right of free press, even in the face of criticism and ridicule, is a surrender of our rights. It is for this reason that the internet, blogs, and other outlets have become the center of free speech and press in this nation. Our current press practitioners have failed in their responsibility to exercise their right. They have surrendered their right in exchange for popularity, in exchange for additional access, in exchange for personal fame. They are failing the American people, and they are giving away their right to free press, a right that is key to the survival of this nation. Others, including the general public, are stepping in to their place, but the failure of the “main stream” press is having an impact. Because the watchdog has been tamed, many of our rights and liberties are under open attack.
The Founders knew that absolute power corrupts absolutely. They placed the free press at the door of freedom to ensure those in power did not encroach on the rights of the people. The press is failing in its responsibility to inform this nation. The watchdog has been tamed and is now a pet of the powerful. If we can not replace our watchdog, or return it to our control, the people may find many of their rights are stolen by the powerful. We must step into the breech and fight for our rights, or we will soon find that free speech, free press, and many other rights will become like the media; tamed and under control of a powerful government.
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