“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” – S.G. Tallentyre, The Friends of Voltaire
Goodreads. “Freedom of Speech Quotes.” Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2021.
Prior to my participation in the JMC-1013, Introduction to Media Course, I had a pretty basic understanding of the first amendment and our freedom of speech in this country, but I had never really thought of how it applied to the media. I simply assumed the media was allowed the exact same freedoms in the same way people do, but I was unaware that there have been so many problems with the press and the fight they have been waging to have absolute freedom of speech. Recently, we learned about the court case known as the Pentagon Papers in which a series of stories the New York Times was running about the United States involvement in the Vietnam War was pulled from being run or published for two weeks because the United States Attorney General at the time, John N. Mitchell, deemed them to be endangering the safety and defense of America. The issue was taken to court after its removal within the first 48 hours of it being run, with the judge of the case, Warren E. Burger, ruled in favor of the New York Times keeping the story and running the rest of the series. All of this was because after the review of the papers they were deemed not harmful to the United States and their defences. This was a topic of fear for journalists at the time and even journalists now because of the threat it poses to their freedom of speech. The government being able to completely stop a story or a piece of media from being released for an extended period of time, although in this case is was released, shows journalists how at any moment the things they have to report on, could be so controversial that it could be removed completely.
This was a really enlightening and educational part of our academia because I think it made me more aware of the field I wish to go into and the things that I could potentially face. It also made me more aware of the struggles the media have to deal with and are dealing with that we may not even be aware of. Just makes you think a little more about all of the things going on in the world.
