I do believe that the freedom to speak one's mind, write it down and even publish it could not necessarily be a bad thing. On the other hand, sometimes we offend and even "cross the line" when it comes to respecting someone's privacy.
Now, when I say freedom of the press, this covers all aspects of media. Anyway that we recieve news: television, newspaper, radio, internet and so on and so forth.
People should be able to write what they want and say what they want. I mean, after all this is America, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, right? Wrong (to a certain extent, at least),
We want to know everything and journalists work hard at making sure we do.
But will it be ever enough? And how far do we take issues before we "cross the line"?
While it is true that we have a democracy that seems to let us get away with almost anything compared to other countries, sometimes it seems like freedom of the press can put us in more jeopardy than we thought.
Take the New York Times vs. U.S. case. The summary of it states that, "The New York Times and Washington Post began publishing portions of the "Pentagon Papers" (a secret Defense Department report of U.S. involvement in Vietnam)." The U.S./Nixon Administration saw this as potential useful information to the enemy. At the end of the case, The New York Times won.
While I believe we as a nation deserve to know certain things. I believe there's a time and place for everything. In my opinion, if I had a part in making a decision on that case I would have ruled in favor of making an injunction with the papers.
Freedom of the Press is important, but not as important as my life. Any kind of story that could be potentially harmful is a possible problem if lives are at stake.
Is it really worth knowing everything? Or are we better off left in the dark on some issues?
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