Many, many years ago, when I was a high school senior, I had to make a decision. I had been Copy Editor of the high school newspaper, The Dragon’s Tale, my junior year and I was Editor in my senior year. Writing was in my blood and reporting came second nature. As did archiving information and disseminating it through op-eds.
Being the editor taught me so much about lay-out, of negative and positive white space on a page. It allowed me to experiment with pictures and with assignments to the reporters who wrote for the paper. This was the 1992-1993 school year and I became editor right when the 1992 general election was heating up. We wrote about it, of course we did. I fought for inclusion of student art as part of the layout. I asked a very talented cartoonist in my class to draw me a couple of comics of the presidential nominees. He did and it was everything I was looking for.
Were we old enough to vote? Some of us. I wouldn’t turn 18 until the following July but I wanted my classmates who were old enough to realize the importance of voting and of making their voices heard. It was a pivotal election year.
Just like this year.
I used the high school paper to try to get the older students excited about the election. Same as today. It might look a bit different but same.
My choice when I was a high school senior was to continue my education through the two things that were interesting to me. Journalism and science.
We all know which one I picked.
I picked the science.
However, I kept up with the news, preferably printed, ever since. From multiple source, like a good little editor.
Right now the first amendment of the US Constitution is under attack by the administration.
The first amendment secures the freedom of the press. This means that the press can publish anything they want to report on, regardless of how the president and congress feels about it. The reporting is often done on the actions of the government and is not to be controlled, stopped, censored, or censured by the government.
At all. .
It is a foundational constitution given right. It is enshrined in the very first amendment of the Bill of Rights. Remember those?
This week the government expelled three separate news organizations because the president felt they said mean things. The three were CNN, MSNow and Politico.
They tried to fancy up the language but that is what it is at its core.
Censorship.
And a veiled threat.
I would say that I am sorry that the president’s feelings got hurt and he lashed out. But I am not. The news organizations exist to report on the news, not to make nice and say nice things about the administration. Well, at least most of them. But you can’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Everything that has happened since, the lawsuit filings, the court siding with the press organizations, the administration failing to heed the courts, has been breathtakingly dangerous.
We are teetering on a very unstable branch.
And the president and cabinet and all the yes men and women are gleefully shaking the branch.
Talk about a dark night in the soul of our country.
If only there were news organizations who could shine light through the night.
Oh wait, there are.
Because the Constitution said so.
