Started...this'll take awhile.
Most changes of words are in bold, but I re-organized some thoughts, and tried to eleminate redundancies and junk
The First Amendment and Suppression Thereof:
There are few American institutions that have the power
to control information like the Press. The press can present information that sheds light on illegal actions, change the tone of a national debate
by influencing what observers think. Of course, this
seems like a lot of power for an institution that is not a part of the government. Journalists are not elected. They are not appointed by the President or approved by Congress, but they can make or break a presidency. They can
pressure congressmen or senators into resignation.
Journalists have broad discretionary powers that can shape foreign and domestic policy.
Should an unregulated entity have so much power? According to the Constitution,
the answer is yes. “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”(The Constitution of the United States of America 26).
These words are powerful and state a clear meaning. The framers
of the constitution were right; the power of the press is in place for a reason, but
such power should be wielded responsibly.
The freedom of the press is still a rather young concept, considering the age of humanity.
The idea has evolved little by little since the sixteenth century. It culminated in 1791 with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment gives the press
freedom to inform.
Historically, information has been suppressed, by both church and state. The church,
specifically the Roman Catholic Church, has had a fear of information. They have a habit of suppressing anything that contradicts their teachings. The Bible speaks of tolerance, yet the Catholic Church has been intolerant of the views of others. During the Inquisition of the Church, the Catholic Church actually executed people for teaching, what they considered heresy. The consensus among church scholars is that thirty-two thousand people died
at the hands of the church during the inquisition. These people were tortured to death for having a different opinion of the world than that of the church.
The modern Catholic Church has been less violent, but just as sadistic with the modern press; the persecution of Galileo Galilei comes to mind. The Book of Psalms says, "He set the Earth on its foundations; it can never be moved" (Holy Bible 471). This bible verse is solely responsible for the slowing of the advancement of science. The church used this verse as evidence against Galileo’s studies of astronomy. Galileo argued that the earth revolves around the sun. Galileo was charged with heresy for teaching his theory and brought to Rome for trial. At seventy years old, Galileo was subjected to threats of torture by the church. He was taken to the dungeons, under the Vatican, and shown the instruments of torture that the church was known for. Galileo was
afraid of being tortured and recanted his teachings. For his cooperation, Galileo was confined to his home for the last seven years of his life. He was not allowed to receive visitors or leave his home, until his death.
The struggle for a free press began in Britain. The publication of unauthorized anti-religious materials resulted in the King of England issuing a royal proclamation requiring a publishing license. This license gave the King the power to control all publications. Anything that was printed without a license was shut down or destroyed without delay.
Later English monarchs placed stronger restrictions on publication, but applied them more to political criticism than religious heresy. In 1644, John Milton attacked these publication laws and called on the British Parliament to delay suppressing offensive publications after they appear, rather than advocating prior restraint. Milton’s arguments before Parliament became the cornerstone of the press freedom movement. Though Milton made a huge impact in the establishment of a free press, Parliament did not rescind licensing and censorship laws until 1695.
In the American colonies, the people were already enjoying and building a tradition of a free press. The colonies formed an organization of news exchange called the Committees of Correspondence.
“Despite the absence of powerful national newspapers during the early years of the republic, the press found much more ready acceptance in covering the business of the American Congress than was the case with British Parliament” (Cater 49).