What part of the First Amendment don’t they get?
That was my first reaction upon hearing about the mess at the University of Missouri last week. Activists tried to block journalists’ access to a small tent city that had been erected as protesters called for — and eventually received — the resignation of the university’s president for his failure to react more strongly to racist incidents at the school.
It would be easy enough to blast the protesters, particularly professors Melissa Click and Richard Callahan and Director of Greek Life Janna Basler. Those three should have known better, particularly Click, who had a courtesy appointment with Missouri’s well-regarded journalism school (the appointment has since been rescinded.)
But that would be overlooking the fact that most people, at Missouri or otherwise, don’t understand the First Amendment and what it means in relation to free speech and the media.
The exact phrasing of the amendment is:
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.
Here are a few things to note:
- While the students at Missouri have the ability to peaceably assemble, they have no right to block anybody else from the public space — news media or otherwise. The protesters can request the media not enter the area they’re in, but they can’t enforce that.
- Photographers have the right to take photos of anybody in a public space and to publish them in a news publication without that person’s permission. But they also have a moral (but not legal) responsibility to apply sensitivity when the situation calls for it. For example, in this issue of The Leader, there is photography of the Take Back the Night event (because it’s newsworthy), but it’s sensitively framed to protect the privacy of the participants.
- Freedom of speech protects your right to say stupid things (just check out what many of the presidential candidates have had to say lately), but it only protects you from government retribution. It doesn’t protect you from being shunned or from being subjected to rude responses pointing out your stupidity. That’s freedom of expression as well.
- Freedom of speech also means the freedom not to speak. Nobody is required by law to talk to a reporter or to speak to anybody for that matter (unless they’ve signed a contract, as have professional athletes such Marshawn Lynch, the reticent Seattle Seahawk).
- You can’t claim freedom of speech and deny it to others. It doesn’t work that way. I’ve spoken to several students on this campus over the years who had conservative beliefs and said they were afraid to express them for fear of repercussions from professors. Fredonia is a place where many subgroups have found their safe space, but it has to be true for all. I would hope those fears were baseless, or we would be no better than Click, Callahan and Basler at Missouri.