Freedom of the Press
by Taylor Higgins
“Who has political memories before 911?”
Not a single hand went up.
This was the overwhelming sentiment of the large audience of
college students that filled Francis Auditorium for Tuesday Night’s “First
Amendment Forum.” The forum is part of High Point University's second ever Communication Week, a week-long schedule of speakers and events hosted by the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication.
“The world we live in right now is not the ways the system is supposed to work," said featured speaker Dean Smith. "It is not normal for the government to drop bombs on a wedding ceremony in Pakistan," ”
A type of “round table” discussion, the forum featured
faculty panelist Smith, assistant professor of communication; Dr. Wilfred
Tremblay, director of the Qubein School of Communication; and Dr. Ali
Yanus, assistant professor of political science. Henry Molski, student vice
president of Lambda Pi Eta, the communication honor society, joined the
panelist as they engaged audience members in the discussion.
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| Students engage with faculty panelist in the First Amendment Forum. Photo credit: Taylor Higgins |
"You’ve lived your whole lives with troops on the ground in
Afghanistan and Iraq," said Smith. "You’ve become so desensitized that you don’t realize
it’s not normal for the government to listen to your phone calls.”
Smith presented “Secrets, Sources and the Chill on Watchdog
Journalism” to a marginally young crowd of college students. In his speech,
he addressed crises regarding the First Amendment, the Constitution and the system of democracy.
Smith explained how the government is using drastic tactics, including prosecution of whistle blowers, increased subpoenas of journalist, attempts to reveal confidential sources, and the threat of costly litigation to dislodge info that belongs to the public.
"Last year, the Obama administration reached the record number of documents classified as top secret and of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests," Smith said. "This is fundamentally a First Amendment issue because it hinders the gathering of information that belongs to the public. The real threat to the American public is that we have no idea what our government is doing."
The most elaborate of these measures is the Espionage Act 1917. According to Smith, the Obama administration is attempting to apply the Act, meant to limit the speech privileges of government employees, to private persons and 3rd party publishers for first time in history to censor journalism.
All of this, he says, is resulting in a classic "chill effect" on the media.
"Journalist are afraid of being prosecuted, and this leads to thin, bland journalism. " Smith said. "We saw the same effect on the media after the Nixon administration -- FOIA is a direct check or monitor on warranted government spying."
Faculty panelists shared different views based on their experiences of different world events and political climates. Recent Constitutional crises, they agreed, are much a result of Sept. 11, 2001.
"World War II shaped the perspective of the world, economy and political systems of people of that era," Yanus said. "September 11 is another one of those events that shifted our world view. But unlike WWII where we had a clear enemy, this is the 'war on terror.' Who is terror? Where is terror? This vagueness is used by politicians to take foreign policy law and dump it."
"Wars have a rally round the flag effect," said Smith "Disagreeing with the illegal war on Iraq after 9/11 had real repercussions for not just, journalist, but for all-- and sometimes publicly, like the case of the Dixie Chicks being blackballed for their statements."
Students engaged, questioned and laughed, but the real concern of the crowd was evident – what does all this mean for the future and the job market for soon-to-be college graduates?
According to Smith, it is rare today for a communication student to graduate and find employment as a journalist at a newspaper. The positive effect, he says, is the entrepreneurial nature journalism has taken on, and the variety of careers available to communication students.
"There are plenty of industries where you can make a good career with your ability to write well in the English language," said Smith. "That's a hot commodity -- the world will never not need copy editing."
Tremblay agreed that although the traditional jobs are dwindling, students are not limited.
"With the technology available to you, your generation has an opportunity we didn't," said Tremblay. "It is possible for you all to make a mark right away in your field, and not have to wait 50 years before that is available to you"
Smith concluded by proposing possible solutions to the threat on free press and speech, not just for journalist, but for all citizens doing journalistic activity, and opened the floor for suggestions from students.
"You don't have to simply accept the way it is," said Smith. "Our political system was not handed down by God. It was written by men and can be changed. It takes action, voices, protests and participation in self-government to make change."
"Last year, the Obama administration reached the record number of documents classified as top secret and of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests," Smith said. "This is fundamentally a First Amendment issue because it hinders the gathering of information that belongs to the public. The real threat to the American public is that we have no idea what our government is doing."
 |
| Senior Henry Molski, left, introduces featured speaker Dean Smith. Photo credit: Taylor Higgins |
All of this, he says, is resulting in a classic "chill effect" on the media.
"Journalist are afraid of being prosecuted, and this leads to thin, bland journalism. " Smith said. "We saw the same effect on the media after the Nixon administration -- FOIA is a direct check or monitor on warranted government spying."
Faculty panelists shared different views based on their experiences of different world events and political climates. Recent Constitutional crises, they agreed, are much a result of Sept. 11, 2001.
"World War II shaped the perspective of the world, economy and political systems of people of that era," Yanus said. "September 11 is another one of those events that shifted our world view. But unlike WWII where we had a clear enemy, this is the 'war on terror.' Who is terror? Where is terror? This vagueness is used by politicians to take foreign policy law and dump it."
"Wars have a rally round the flag effect," said Smith "Disagreeing with the illegal war on Iraq after 9/11 had real repercussions for not just, journalist, but for all-- and sometimes publicly, like the case of the Dixie Chicks being blackballed for their statements."
Students engaged, questioned and laughed, but the real concern of the crowd was evident – what does all this mean for the future and the job market for soon-to-be college graduates?
According to Smith, it is rare today for a communication student to graduate and find employment as a journalist at a newspaper. The positive effect, he says, is the entrepreneurial nature journalism has taken on, and the variety of careers available to communication students.
"There are plenty of industries where you can make a good career with your ability to write well in the English language," said Smith. "That's a hot commodity -- the world will never not need copy editing."
Tremblay agreed that although the traditional jobs are dwindling, students are not limited.
"With the technology available to you, your generation has an opportunity we didn't," said Tremblay. "It is possible for you all to make a mark right away in your field, and not have to wait 50 years before that is available to you"
Smith concluded by proposing possible solutions to the threat on free press and speech, not just for journalist, but for all citizens doing journalistic activity, and opened the floor for suggestions from students.
"You don't have to simply accept the way it is," said Smith. "Our political system was not handed down by God. It was written by men and can be changed. It takes action, voices, protests and participation in self-government to make change."
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