The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments to the US
Constitution. They spell out the rights – the freedoms – we citizens have to
realize the promise of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ That’s it
in a nutshell.
The life and liberty phrase had to be supported by items
spelled out for all to understand the breadth and depth of our guaranteed
freedoms. That’s why the Bill of Rights was written and accepted to amend the
constitution. Ever since then, however, court cases have plumbed the depths of
each amendment to test boundaries. Mankind always tests the limits. Then, as
today, those tests keep on coming.
If each amendment is carefully viewed, a common element is
the freedom to think, believe and act in self interest to fulfill one’s own
life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. My definition of happiness is not
yours, so we are each free to live by our own definition. That’s the essence of
the amendments.
Freedom of speech is basic. Freedom of the press is basic. One
is individual freedom to speak one’s mind; the other is the community to speak
its mind through an organized method of gathering and printing the news. The voice
or voices of the citizenry is free to form and be heard.
Saying it isn’t so does not make it so.
Politicians who disagree with a message can do so
freely, but the message remains just the same. It remains for all to hear, see
and ponder for themselves; then to decide what is fact and what is fancy. An open
society is free to do this reasoning.
Unfortunately, mankind has emotions. Those cloud and filter
reality. Others – including some politicians – manipulate the emotions to skew
the message’s reception by the people. A systematic manipulation is labeled
propaganda. That appears to be what we confront daily today, not by the press, but by the newsmakers themselves. Fake News, anyone?
The president insists the press is ‘the enemy of the people’.
Emotional people may feel this statement is true. Non-emotional people will
know it is not true. Facts are facts and can be verified and researched. That is
the role of the press. It is a guardian of the society. It counters fiction
with fact to help us all remain attuned to reality.
A free press is a counter-weight to political power and
authority. An elected official has freedom to act but citizens have access to all
the facts for perspective. A manipulator or liar is soon found out. The authority
fizzles soon after.
Is the press always correct in its reporting? Of course not; facts occur fast and furious and keeping them properly sorted is a huge
task. Reflection and analysis help restore proper order and truth emerges. Most
of the time the press gets it right because of its long-held discipline and
professional ethics.
There are press organizations – newspapers and magazines –
which pander an ideology or political preference to a targeted market. That is
propaganda and not news. It is the opposite of free press.
How clear are the two information systems delineated? Not very.
The reader – consumer of news – must think this out for himself and decide. Which
is true, and which is fancy?
The freedom gives us pause to do the right thing. More the
pity that some use that pause to mislead.
August 20, 2018
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