The responsibility of free speech – St. George Daily Spectrum

Harold Hickman, In My Opinion 6:16 a.m. MT March 30, 2017

Harold Hickman(Photo: SUBMITTED)

Lata Notts recent editorial in The Spectrum & Daily Newsnoted: Maybe its time for us to come to terms with the truth: While everybody loves the First Amendment in theory, nobodys all that fond of it in practice.

Well, here is one somebody who is not only fond of it, but will follow Voltaires seemingly bromidic statement: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Ms. Lott misses the point. The problem with free speech is that many who exercise it as professions fail to understand the added element of each freedom we all enjoy the responsibility that is attached to the freedom.

Freedom of speech should be exercised with the caveat that there are ethical responsibilities that should precede its use. In America, those ethics are grounded in the protection of the individual and the society from injury or harm. At the extreme that injury is covered by liable or defamation, but in lesser instances, those who exercise free speech and the corresponding freedom of the press should guard against causing physical, emotional or spiritual harm or damage to their audience.

It is in these situations where I believe our society and the press have overstepped their responsibility in the application of the use of freedom of speech. The cannons of ethics established by the society of journalists, in my estimation, is being violated every day by reporters, writers and editors who confuse reporting the news with editorializing. Much of this confusion is subtle a word here, an innuendo there. The slanting of a story so that it leads to an understanding by the reader or viewer not supported by the actual details is common. This is an example of the current problem with free speech.

The general public isnt as naive as it used to be. Most are well educated, discerning, sophisticated citizens who can tell when smoke is being blown at them. The publics perception of the credibility of their sources of information is currently suffering low acceptance because they dont trust those sources to give them unbiased facts.

Freedom of speech is critical to our society. Citizens must defend its openness but be hypercritical of its misuse.

Harold Hickman is a professor emeritus of mass communications at Northern Arizona University. He lives in St. George.

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The responsibility of free speech - St. George Daily Spectrum