We’ll spare you most of the idealism, but freedom of speech transcends the spoken word. It’s buried in newspaper stands across the country, broadcasted across thousands of miles in television and radio mediums, and transmitted worldwide via the Internet.
While Americans strive to preserve this cornerstone of democracy, those who understand its true power seek to find a peaceful coexistence between it and public safety. Whoever said, “Words will never hurt me,” never took a history class.
A school newspaper declaring the need for boundaries on free speech may sound hypocritical, but we set boundaries for ourselves by following the ethical guidelines of journalism. In other words boundaries aren’t always a bad thing.
Last week, we had a handful of people tell us that someone was throwing away our newspapers. Students and faculty reported that an individual was throwing away the Wednesday and Thursday issues of the Daily 49er.
The thought of someone tossing our hard work into a university trashcan is truly disheartening. However, the total disregard of free speech by this alleged individual shakes the very ground we walk on. The Daily 49er does not take lightly the abuse of an individual’s freedom of speech — whether it is censorship or extremism.
Protecting freedom of speech is not simply allowing anyone to say whatever they want. No, protecting freedom of speech is abiding by moderation and common sense.
Some view the tenets of moderation as universal and objective. Others feel that it is culturally specific and relative. Even we can’t agree when it comes to this distinction but whatever the answer is free speech will continue to be a heated topic. Examples of this are prevalent.
Glenn Miller, a write-in candidate for Missouri’s senatorial election, has been campaigning with blatantly racist radio ads. The ads whine that “Jews control the media” and complain about whites “watching coons play ball,” instead of fighting for their freedoms.
What’s idiotic about the whole situation? Kansas City and Springfield, Miss. radio stations are unable to prevent the ads’ broadcasts. The First Amendment protects Miller, who won a measly 23 votes in his last run for Congress.
This situation may be easy to weigh on the balance of free speech but others aren’t.
American rapper Eminem famously complained about the Federal Communications Commission in his hit single “Without Me.” Countless television shows and even radio broadcasts have complained about the overreaching hand of the FCC. However, in this example it may seem that the FCC is finally fighting for free speech.
Earlier this month a federal appeals court ruled that the FCC had no authority to establish what some call “net neutrality.” The FCC had sought to prevent Internet service providers from charging websites more money to increase the speed at which their content is sent out.
The case focused on the Internet service provider Comcast. The company believed it had the power to slow its users connection to websites that hog bandwidth. The federal court of appeals agreed.
Is the FCC attempting to preserve the First Amendment rights of countless websites who can’t afford to pay for increased bandwidth or is Comcast fighting to prevent websites from hogging bandwidth and limiting access to other websites?
This grey area is exactly our point. The Daily 49er, like so many other news organizations has sought to make sense of what one can say and what can’t say in a public forum.
On Monday, this student newspaper reviewed its online comment policy. The goal of the new policy is not to censor our commenters but to protect the legitimacy of our readers’ First Amendment rights.
The Daily 49er encourages its readers to participate in the moderation of our online forum my e-mailing us or by simply flagging extreme comments.
Together we can fight to defend American free speech and protect its credibility.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for comments made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for comments made on this Web site. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech.
