When America was a British colony, newspapers flourished, most of them written from personal viewpoints with little news and excessive political slanders, and many libel suits were successfully adjudicated in English courts. After our Constitution was written, our leaders saw that individual liberties, the rights of the people, were neglected, hence the formation of the Bill of Rights, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution. Future President James Madison was largely responsible for the wording of those, the First Amendment reading as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting the 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.”
Right in the middle is freedom of speech and “the press,” which today encompasses every possible Media source. Technology has advanced beyond Human imagination 50 years ago, far past anything George Orwell’s 1984 could describe. Through the years, laws were enacted to control obscenities and vulgarities, words that incite violence, threats of harm to persons or property, and slanders of character, that which could be libelous. Of course, perception of these controls is subject to societal acceptance, and a growing mistrust of government doesn’t help.
In 1798 second President John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts, four laws concerning illegal aliens and possible sedition (treason), which also prohibited newspapers from “false, seditious, or malicious writing” against Congress or the President. Within a few years, this Act was removed, and power was given to the court system, often progressing all the way to the Supreme Court, to handle journalism that appears libelous of government, with a promise that truth would determine Justice.
Adams’ successor, Thomas Jefferson, said, “”Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or a newspaper without government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.” Of course, this quote encouraged the proliferation of newspapers throughout the country, small town to big city empires.
In order to separate news from opinion, newspapers took it upon themselves to educate the public as to the difference. Opinion pieces were set apart and dedicated to a single writer who pleased some and angered others, and Editorial pages were eventually enhanced by Letters to the Editor.
News itself was also written by journalists, but they were obligated to be both factual and ethical in presentation. The expansion of radio led to regulations initiated for public protection, again, a matter of perception, through 1934’s Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, which subsequently placed regulations on television and controls most Media today. Newsmen like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite became the Voices of America, ensuring that Truth is valued beyond conjecture.
The era of television allowed us to absorb different personalities, making heroes and heroines of actors and musicians, and we emulated their behaviors, “playing mind games forever” (thanks, John Lennon), creating our own dramas and traumas, but bringing us together, like Ed Sullivan, who had something for everyone. Television tantalized us with the lives of cowboys, comedians, detectives, lawyers, doctors, and the like, while stories like “Route 66” gave us wanderlust and a desire to discover various parts of our country.
“American Bandstand” and “Soul Train” brought us together by allaying our fears of others different from ourselves, giving us lessons in Human dignity and decency. Other shows, especially those sponsored by National Geographic, opened up the world to a previously isolated America, raising our consciousness for protecting Planet Earth and its diverse inhabitants.
In 1968 Secretary of State Robert McNamara commissioned a study of US military activities in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967, and disturbing, often criminal deceptions, including an assassination, were revealed. By 1969, MIT Researcher and Rand Corporation employee Daniel Ellsberg had access to the report and started releasing it in sections to seventeen newspapers, first to the New York Times and the Washington Post. A 1971 landmark decision by the US Supreme Court placed the release of the Pentagon Papers under the auspices of the First Amendment, and Espionage charges against “whistle-blower” Ellsberg were dismissed in 1973 due to his psychiatrist’s office being burglarized (a connection to some involved in the Watergate burglary). Edward Snowden faces Espionage charges, and Chelsea (nee Bradley) Manning spent seven years in prison for the same.
In many ways, our ever-advancing Media has been our salvation, giving Americans conscious awareness at Selma, Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge and after the murders of Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner, opening the eyes of those who neglected or refused to recognize the injustices of Jim Crow laws and acts of white supremacy. The Media continues to reveal those who create conflict and cause harm to others, those who encourage hope or advance pessimism, and those who love or hate, revealing generous or hard hearts.
Today, there’s much misinformation in the Media, often invading our private lives, with some persons deliberately deceiving us, others simply careless, confused by fear and similar emotions. We must remember the mantra of Evil that plagues Mankind – united, they will stand and divided, they will fall. We must never forget that the written mandate of Soviet Communism was that the world, particularly wealthy, advanced nations, would eventually succumb to their control.
Our Republic-Democracy will thrive if we educate ourselves on the aspects of government that work and don’t work, accomplished through research, particularly studying policies of other nations, negotiation and compromise of debating parties, understanding that dissent is a necessary feature of freedom, and journalism, even in falsehoods, should not be denied. Whatever is good and truthful will be upheld, while that which is false or negative, discarded.
Lies and conspiracy theories nonetheless proliferate, and severe penalties were instated by the FCC to punish liars and slanderers – disbandment from the media, fines and accompanying fees, even criminal prosecution with prison time, but much remains unregulated. In recent years, Congress additionally passed laws to ensure “truth in advertising,” but we know violations still exist.
I started writing this Media blog in the middle of the Covid 19 scare, with most of us adhering to a stay-at-home policy, and the question now arises whether our front-line medical workers should be broadcasting their stories live, letting us know how they feel, what they’re experiencing, showing us scenes from the streets, ambulances, Emergency rooms, hospital wards, make-shift, pop-up hospitals, and morgues. That’s what this article has been about – freedom of speech – transparency – letting the public know what’s really going on behind the scenes – the horrors and the joys. Sure, it scares us, bringing it home, and with our blessings of knowledge come its curses, but we must persevere, though we’re all vulnerable for trauma.
Thanks to advances in the Media, we’re the most informed generation in known history, and like children who must learn to separate reality from fantasy, we make corrections as we realize our mistakes. Just as government must trust us to discern truth, we must trust government to address corruption and injustice. We must also trust our sources of information, and force them to submit to complete transparency.
Through it all, we Human Beings are Children of G-D, Creator of Life on Earth, and though this pandemic causes us to doubt control of our own destinies, we must make choices that benefit everyone, certainly not padding the pockets of the wealthy, but choices that will lead to medical equanimity. Perhaps it’s time for another tenet of our First Amendment rights to be addressed – “petition the government for a redress of grievances,” guaranteeing comprehensive, free medical care for everyone. As long as we’re thinking about other aspects of the First Amendment, is not our right to assemble and freely practice one’s religion applicable to those wishing to attend church services, to the detriment of their own health and the health of others around them?
We pray that expanded Media will lessen the political polarization that has arisen in recent years, reminding ourselves that less than 10% of the Right and less than 10% of the Left are extremists we may never satisfy, while more than 80% of us in the middle are conservative in some things and liberal and progressive in others. Messiah Yeshua guides and protects us as to G-D’s Will, helping us to accept our fate with courage and grace, also in the Positive Energy of Prayer. (Thank you, Willie Dennis, for confirmation of the Power of Prayer.)
NO FEAR!!!!!