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THIS IS ARCHIVED CONTENT FOR HISTORICAL REFERENCE ONLY FIRST VOICES Landmark First Amendment Research Ball State’s First Amendment institute has launched a landmark research project with 5,000 high school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 Last week was national Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read. I missed it altogether. Somehow I didn’t get the memo, I guess. But I do get the message of the American Library Association (ALA), which founded the event in 1982. Banning books is an assault on the First Amendment – and our own sensibilities. The First Amendment protects popular speech. But most importantly, it protects unpopular speech. Over the years, narrow-minded interests, seeking to protect young minds from the full range of ideas available in our enduring democracy, have sought censorship of books and other materials. Ideas fuel our way of life. They show the full range of our culture and heritage. Among the books that have appeared on the ALA’s list of top 10 challenged books: Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” and Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple.” Topping the list for the third straight year was “And Tango Makes Three,” a children’s book about two penguins raising their baby. Even though the event has passed, Banned Books Week remains a good time to remember the emancipating power of free expression.
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