"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers"
Freedom of the Press is a big deal. I’m sure that’s why our founding fathers ensured that freedom by putting it in the First Amendment. They knew the history and the great importance of being allowed to publish and announce your opinion to whoever will listen.
According to author, Peter McWilliams freedom of press has shaped history and defined many important events. He breaks down a timeline going from the Egyptians Book of the Dead to the reporters uncovering the Watergate scandal. One of the most important uses of freedom of press is the spread of the Bible. McWilliams points out that for a long time it was hard to get a copy of a Bible unless you were very rich, until Gutenberg invented the printing press and made the Bible easily available. This act alone is most responsible for the Reformation and the fact that over thirty percent of the world’s population now claims to be a subject of Christianity. If the Bible were banned (which in some countries is the case) that statistic most likely would be substantially smaller.
McWilliams also credits freedom of the press for the very formation of the United States. He marks the publication of Tom Paine’s Common Sense as the catalyst for stirring up a rebellion that eventually led to the Revolutionary War. Who knows where would we be if Paine were not allowed to publish his thoughts?
Is the Press really Free?
Even though freedom of press is a protected right according to the Constitution, many would argue that it is not free enough. In the United States most of the press we read, hear, or see is censored in some way or another. It is passed through certain regulators that judge if the criteria is deemed acceptable for the public.
Now for the most part I really don’t mind censorship. I would prefer not to listen to profanity or see vulgar images because somebody wants to project them at me. I like censorship for the purpose of keeping the media clean.
Where I believe censorship fails is when it causes the media to be biased. This is especially the case in news journalism. It bothers me when somebody goes through a news story and only pulls out the one side they want the audience to hear. I think censoring for purposes of pushing an agenda is a misuse of power and unfair to the media consumers.
Overall I think freedom of the press is a great thing. It has caused revolutions and shaped the history of the world. Without freedom of press we would be living in a very different environment. It’s a very important freedom, that we should never take for granted. Hopefully one day all countries of the world will get to enjoy this freedom like we do in America.
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