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THIS IS ARCHIVED CONTENT FOR HISTORICAL REFERENCE ONLY FIRST VOICES Landmark First Amendment Research Ball State’s First Amendment institute has launched a landmark research project with 5,000 high school principals nationwide. J-Ideas, a 5-year-old effort to support student journalism and First Amendment awareness, is reaching out to 5,000 principals to gauge their knowledge level and support for the First Amendment of the Constitution. The research coincides with Sunshine Week, a national effort to support Freedom of Information, an important principle of the First Amendment. <more> -Ignoramcer in Palin, Dowd free-speech remarks -Plainfield pays respect to First Amendment -Author creates First Amendment 'primer' -New President must revive Constitution -Traditional news misses Edwards escapade -Protesters' rights fenced off -Bad year for traditional news gatherers -Baseball and the First Amendment -Principals and the First Amendment -Thoughts from the annual U.S. editors convention -Need for print journalism remains -The First Amendment at the Alamo -Author creates First Amendment 'primer' -Unlikely First Amendment hero -Harrison represented Hoosiers proudly -Online course wraps for the fall -Blogs grow in influence, but beware of anonymity -Parent rides the bench after blog posting -Student journalist's actions serves profession poorly -Remembering the courageous Elijah Parish Lovejoy -First Amendment protects unpopular speech, too Student journalists scoop professional press
Mile high with the First Amendment... We were north of the Mile High City near the Rocky Mountains. The principals were voluntarily descending—not from the tall peaks but from their position abutting the summit of school hierarchy. When they reached level ground, we could see each other more clearly. And clear sight leads to insight. <more > |
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Warren Watson First Thoughts Blog Post July 9, 2008 It has not been a good year for traditional news gatherers. As a lifelong journalist (former reporter and editor for 30 years) it sickens me to see what is happening as companies adjust to lower profits in the age of the virtually free Internet. Consider: According to a web site that tracks newsroom losses, nearly 6,000 positions in newspaper newsrooms have been eliminated in the first six months of this year. Why should we care? Well, this is an unfortunate byproduct of the Internet “miracle.“ Sure, it’s easy to get news online, but fewer people are buying newspapers. Fewer businesses are buying ads. More now get their news and ads for free, or for the low price (or no price) of an Internet connection. Companies accustomed to that business then must make reductions, while CEOs search for a new business model Legacy journalism, the kind that probes deeply into the news, public interests and malfeasance, the kind practiced by the robust news staffs of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and here, The Indianapolis Star, involves capital – and people. Reporters cover stories – games, meetings, issues. Stories are not conceived immaculately. When a news position is eliminated, one more pair of eyes goes away. The First Amendment, the foundation of journalism, is weakened again. Television news, buffeted by the same issues as print journalism, has been going through this storm for years. The result: copy-cat journalism and celebrity gossip. All too often, we are reduced to bloggers and TV pundits shouting back and forth, offering little but opinions. But even the Bill O’Reillys and the Keith Olbermanns must react to real news; they are not reporters. They draw from journalists in the field, whether they are in the halls of Congress or on the playing fields of Peking. If we take away more of our news staffs, we will erode the body of information citizens must have to make good decisions about our democracy and our lives. And what of Bill and Keith? They will be left with absolutely nothing to talk about.
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