Free speech, Responsible journalism NOT synonymous
I have watched with great interest two controversies spinning in the last week out of college campuses. One is practically in my backyard -- Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo. -- and the other is at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn.
Obviously, different publications, different students and different journalism are involved -- but both conflicts illustrate why I firmly believe that free speech and responsible journalism are not synonymous. I’ll be explaining this very concept – and touching on the campus brouhahas – when I speak to students at the University of Wisconsin this week.
Please allow me to be clear. The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy, and the rights it guarantees every American absolutely must be protected at all costs. Freedom of assembly. Freedom of speech. Freedom of the press. Freedom of religion -- and the practice thereof. Freedom to petition the government for the redress of grievances. I thank God that I live in a country where everyone has these rights.
The First Amendment creates what I often describe to journalism students as "one big, glorious mess that makes this nation great." It flings open the doors to expression we cherish -- and expression we abhor, find utterly revolting, consider completely nuts and/or often wish we could ship to other solar systems. We know – or at least we should – that the best way to combat repugnant or bad speech is with more speech, not less. We're a very noisy bunch here in the United States -- and we're all better for it.
Then there's responsible journalism -- the fundamental tenets of which are outlined in SPJ's ethics code. "Minimize harm," the code states. "Show good taste." "Show compassion ..." "Be accountable." Those are honorable and noble limitations that good journalists – responsible journalists – impose on their work every day.
In other words, just because you can say or write it doesn’t mean you should.
I wish someone had convinced student journalists in Connecticut and Colorado to rethink (as in not publish) the content that has created such a stir. The Connecticut student paper decided to roll with a comic strip that jokingly referred to a “14-year-old Latino girl locked up in a closet” who has been urinated on and, apparently, starved by her captor. The Colorado paper’s editorial board published a four-word editorial: “Taser this … F--- BUSH.” (I’m not even willing to spell out the f-bomb in an SPJ blog – but know that the students did, along with a tagline stating that the column “represents the views of the Collegian’s editorial board.”)
Yup, we’ve got free speech on our hands here – the result of a constitutional right I fight long and hard to protect -- but these are not examples of responsible journalism.
For what it’s worth, my stance on these matters is identical to the one I took when helping to draft SPJ’s statement about cartoons that mocked the Islamic prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper. Some SPJ members were aghast that the statement didn’t state something more along the lines of, “The journalists have the right to do what they did. Leave ‘em alone.”
I just pointed the critics to SPJ’s ethics code. Why bother to have the code, I asked, if SPJ truly stands only for free-speech and free-press rights – and not also the responsibilities that go with them?
What to do about the campus papers’ missteps? That’s always interesting – and I hope university administrators will act in ways that respect the First Amendment and foster great student journalism. I am very concerned about the newspapers’ oversight – particularly in Connecticut, where the student government is the publisher of that newspaper and has the power to dictate the process by which student editors are selected or elected (such managerial structures are just nuts – and smack more of North Korea than the United States). The Colorado State paper is editorially independent – although the university retains some control of the publication through a Board of Student Communications composed of students and faculty. That group has the power to fire the paper’s editor-in-chief. I have written extensively about problems associated with student-publication governance, management and administration.
While I’m thinking about it, this would be a great time for administrators at both universities to review and support SPJ’s Campus Media Statement Program.