As a news guy I have often been called on to cover protests, and they are something I always enjoy going to.

Of course, protests are news, but they are also an expression of free speech, which is the cornerstone of our representative republic and allows me to ply my craft without the worry of some government thug threatening me, which is a tactic that is used against journalists around the globe daily.

Journalists are supposed to set aside their biases when covering all events, even protests that may have speech and themes they find onerous in the extreme. Thats very hard to do sometimes but must be done to provide acurate coverage of an event.

I once was assigned to cover a Ku Klux Klan rally, where the free speech was both profane and ignorant. During that event I was taking pictures and drifted into the area where protesters were hurling insults, bottles and rotten fruit across a barricade at the Klan members. As I snapped a photo an overzealous police officer clobbered me with a riot stick.

As I groggily found my feet I asked him why he had struck a member of the press. He yelled for me to move on and expressed disdain for my profession. I didnt move on, I went back to snapping photos, but I kept checking behind me to see if the big guy with a big club was coming back. He didnt.

I only use the situation to illustrate that at times, free speech and freedom of the press are threatened by intolerance. Nobody wanted to listen to the hate spewed by the Klan, including me, but I understood that our Constitution allows even morons the right to say what they want.

I often use free speech events as a teaching experience. A few years ago there was a group of proselytizers who would stand at the Five Points intersection near my house and shout out that the passersby were all sinners and were destined for a hot time in hell. One of my children objected to the daily harangue she experienced. I backed them up, pointing out that our rules of engagement allow people to shout out that sinners are among us.

Then this week President Donald Trump used his bully pulpit to level untrue accusations at us media types for producing fake news in response to reporters asking him for proof of his allegations that there was massive voter fraud, and a host of other Trumpisms.

Trumps castigation of the national media has delighted his supporters and has left reporters scratching their heads why some Americans are not believing them when they report verifiable, factual information that debunks Trumps false claims.

So even a president can make use of free speech at the cost of others for his own goals.

I think that development is why more White House reporters are challenging Trump in real time about this facts. The technique has risks, as reporters are often seen as confronting the president and not giving him a second chance to provide factual information. For now, I see no recourse for the press corps.

Our duty as reporters is to report the news and verify claims by any and all presidents, mayors, county commissioners and school board members. If we dont do that we leave Americans vulnerable to manipulation for personal or political gain by those they have granted power.

Fortunately, our founding fathers recognized this vital role of the press and included the institution in the First Amendment. I for one, am very grateful for that foresight.

Roger Schneider is city editor at The Goshen News and has been a journalist for 39 years.

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BLOG SPOT: First Amendment keeps presidents in check - Goshen News (blog)