A memory: when I was a kid, growing up in Texas during the Cold War, I couldn't understand the conflict between Washington and Moscow. I remember asking my babysitter to explain it to me, and she explained it this way: Imagine that the President of Russia wanted to make Texas into “Little Russia,” without ever asking the people what they wanted. She warned that if this happened, we wouldn't ever be able to speak out about it, since people in Russia weren't allowed to say anything about their government, and therefore most people didn't even know what decisions were being made for them. I understood what she was trying to say, but I don't think I fully understood how the U.S. government differed, particularly in regards to journalism. Surely people couldn't say bad stuff about the government, right?
Later on, I realized that many factors accounted for the animosity in the Cold War. I learned about the stifling of the press in Communist countries, and learned how that differed from general practice in democracies. The definition of a democracy today is little changed from Abraham Lincoln's definition in the Gettysburg Address: it is a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. This means that members of a democracy govern themselves either directly or through freely elected representatives, who are supposed to give voice to the concerns of their constituency, and work out compromises in the event of competing needs. This places an enormous burden on the populace – in order to ensure that elected officials are adequately representing everyone's concerns, the people need to be aware of all the issues being represented; also, there needs to be a way to express discontent or to advocate for change.
Because a good democracy hinges on an informed populace, both journalism and the First Amendment are important tools to the democratic process. Journalism is a method of reporting by which even very complex information is made accessible to the public, through several medium. Journalists wear many hats: they can work to improve society; they can simply report the facts; they can provide a forum to help solve community issues. In more recent times, social networking changed the face of journalism, allowing non-traditional methods of information dissemination. Though this kind of power could easily be abused, the First Amendment protects the role of journalists, by stating: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Among the many important points listed, the right of the people to inform and be informed through the press plays a prominent role. It allows the people a way to ensure that their democratic representation is just and truly representational.
That, then is the difference that my eight-year-old mind had such trouble comprehending.
