| Censorship and the First Amendment |
| I’ve noticed a lot of discussion and concern about censorship of ideas in the U.S. recently. Much of the talk is anger against what people view as infringements on our First Amendment rights. They feel they have the right to say whatever they want and no one should be allowed to stop them or censor them. But that is not what the first amendment is concerned with. The First Amendment concerns itself only with governmental censorship. Private censorship is completely legal and has been going on since before this country was founded. When you were a kid, how many times did you hear, “My house, my rules,” or something to that effect? We understand that if we ream out a client or use profanities on the job, we are probably going to get fired. So why is it that we are so upset when private corporations like Clear Channel or the American Red Cross decide that they don’t want anti-war sentiments to be related to them in any way? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating censorship here. I’m not saying I approve of what Clear Channel did to the Dixie Chicks, but I’m not going to get upset about it on the basis of first amendment rights. I’ll get upset with the FCC for even considering repealing anti-monopoly rules that would limit the diversity of opinion in mass media. I’ll get upset with the major media corporations for not providing fair and balanced reporting, and for being over-eager with preliminary reports, and reticent with the full-fledged accounts. I’ll get upset with Clear Channel because I feel they should personally behave better, but they haven’t violated anyone’s First Amendment rights. The Dixie Chicks sales have actually increased since the ban, so it’s not like their message isn’t getting out there. I noticed I wasn’t saying anything about the Red Cross situation. In case you hadn’t heard, a local chapter of the Red Cross in New Hampshire told one of their longtime volunteers that he could not park his car (covered in anti-war and anti-Bush stickers) in their parking lot. Their reasoning? The Red Cross is a politically neutral organization and must maintain that neutrality in order to do the work they do. The politically vehement car was obviously owned by an active member of the organization and thus reflected upon the organization itself. Although I think that the general public should be able to recognize that simply because a member of an organization espouses certain beliefs it does not mean the organization holds those same beliefs. And the car was personal property of the member not of the organization. But I still understand where they are coming from. And they at least publicly announced the political stance that led to the decision before that decision was actually made. Much of the discussion of censorship is anger against censorship, and people automatically link censorship to the first Amendment, but the first amendment only concerns itself with government censorship. The problem we have right now is that the government is not censoring directly, although it has been pointed out that many of the biggest censurers have close links to the Bush Administration. The problem is the dominant non-governmental power structure is doing all the censoring, and the first amendment has no influence over non-governmental institutions. So if you’re upset about censoring in America, “The Home of the Free,” quit whining about the first amendment and actually use your rights. Create a local publication and link it to lots of other locals. Hook up with already established, although limited media outlets like NPR, Pacifica radio, Alternet.org, and the Progressive. Challenge the power structure and work for that fair and balanced reporting you say you desire. Hell, if all you manage to do is create a liberal media network that rivals the conservative one now in power, you’ve managed to create a more balanced media structure overall. And if you actually manage to achieve that journalistic ideal of objective reporting, you might just make into the history books. |
| This text isn't all that great right now. I just needed to get the idea down. Perhaps I'll improve upon it in the future. |
| 05-09-03 |