Goal for the day: To appreciate the threats to freedom of the press
Today is all about the freedom of the press. How free is it?
We started with a short video recounting how Edward R. Murrow, a veteran journalist with his own television news show called “See It Now,” took on Senator Eugene McCarthy in 1954. His use of freedom of the press helped stop the fear that was silencing dissent, especially in the press, during this period in our history.
We then listed the various outlets that students use today to get information. It seems as if we have a robust media sector and that we have a wide degree of press freedom. If this is so, does the press deserve special protection under the First Amendment? Everyone journaled on this question.
While shutting down media outlets happens routinely in other countries, in our country there are more subtle ways to silence journalists. We listed these on the board: trying to discredit their reputation, arresting them, deporting them, or advertisers pulling their support when reporting gets too controversial.
We watched a clip from our free speech video detailing what happened the last time the government tried to censor what the media could report. This was the case of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. We discussed some of the background on leaker Daniel Ellsburg and the Nixon administration’s efforts to discredit him by trying to steal his medical records and put LSD in his soup.
We then reviewed two articles about the government attempts to discredit and intimidate journalists. This returns us to our original question of how free our press actually is.
The end of our class was having everyone post in their blog about how they experience freedom of press in their daily lives. What would change in your day-to-day life if freedom of the press was suddenly restricted?
Assignment for Thursday, October 2nd
Read the seminar packet and answer the questions on the Seminar Prep sheet for Friday.
Today is all about the freedom of the press. How free is it?
We started with a short video recounting how Edward R. Murrow, a veteran journalist with his own television news show called “See It Now,” took on Senator Eugene McCarthy in 1954. His use of freedom of the press helped stop the fear that was silencing dissent, especially in the press, during this period in our history.
We then listed the various outlets that students use today to get information. It seems as if we have a robust media sector and that we have a wide degree of press freedom. If this is so, does the press deserve special protection under the First Amendment? Everyone journaled on this question.
While shutting down media outlets happens routinely in other countries, in our country there are more subtle ways to silence journalists. We listed these on the board: trying to discredit their reputation, arresting them, deporting them, or advertisers pulling their support when reporting gets too controversial.
We watched a clip from our free speech video detailing what happened the last time the government tried to censor what the media could report. This was the case of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. We discussed some of the background on leaker Daniel Ellsburg and the Nixon administration’s efforts to discredit him by trying to steal his medical records and put LSD in his soup.
We then reviewed two articles about the government attempts to discredit and intimidate journalists. This returns us to our original question of how free our press actually is.
The end of our class was having everyone post in their blog about how they experience freedom of press in their daily lives. What would change in your day-to-day life if freedom of the press was suddenly restricted?
Assignment for Thursday, October 2nd
Read the seminar packet and answer the questions on the Seminar Prep sheet for Friday.