Tuesday, November 01, 2005

The First Amendment and Its Uses

Robert Scheer on Judith Miller and her First Amendment defense,

"This case was never about protecting government sources who risk their careers by telling the truth, but rather about punishing those like Wilson who do. That Miller cared far more about protecting someone who abused his power as the Vice President's chief of staff than about protecting the right of Wilson to speak truth to power says volumes about her priorities.
That the New York Times again editorialized last week in defense of its knee-jerk support of Miller, even after knowing she deceived her editors, is a startling indication that even some of our most respected media leaders still are missing the point.
The First Amendment protection is not a license for mischief on the part of journalists eager to do the government's bidding. To the contrary, it was conceived by the founders to prevent government from subverting the free press in an effort to misinform the public. Unfortunately, that is precisely what occurred here."

The entire article.

No comments: