Dear Subscriber,
The U.S. Constitution is in the news a lot these days.
And despite what you think about the circumstances that are putting it there, that’s a good thing for America. Bringing the guidebook for representative democracy into everyday discussions about how this country should run, and what it stands for, is a good civics refresher course for all Americans.
 It’s particularly relevant for a particular subset of Americans – working journalists. After all, we’re the only profession our Founding Fathers explicitly safeguarded when they approved the Constitution 230 years ago.
The free press guaranteed in the First Amendment was seen as essential to a country freshly freed from a monarchy. The right to inspect, to independently question government and to publish reports questioning or contrary to those in in power was a safeguard against tyranny.
Regardless of your politics, you can see the founders’ intention at work every single day in our current political landscape. Dogged reporting is prying open secrets, it’s making elected officials face difficult questions, it’s cracking apart dubious storylines and flimsy justifications.
And mostly, it’s arming citizens with information to make critical decisions about this country’s future. That’s not just on a national scale – it’s in every community that’s covered by a professional news organization.
Last week, scores of journalists came together at MLive’s Grand Rapids Press hub to celebrate Constitution Day, the anniversary of the signing of the seminal document in our representative government. It included MLive employees from our nine markets around Michigan, as well as invited journalists from other media outlets and college students.
We didn’t simply gather to toast the wisdom of Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson & Co. What they created is a living, dynamic document, fully intended to be revised (there are 27 amendments, the last passed in 1992), tested and interpreted by each generation’s legislative, executive and judicial branches.
And that was the theme of our program, which featured Robin Luce-Herrmann and Jen Dukarski, attorneys who provide First Amendment legal support to members of the Michigan Press Association. Society and culture and politics all evolve, and working journalists need to fight for freedoms and apply insight with each generation.
Hate speech. Trigger warnings. Safe zones. Right to be forgotten. All amplified and complicated by our ever-evolving internet and social media culture. None of which could have been contemplated by the framers of the Constitution, but which they wisely provided latitude for in its construction.
In opening remarks at the event, I referred to the document as “intricate, and durable.” But it’s not static, and nor are the times we live in. Both of which demand that journalists reinterpret and understand the rights and responsibilities we were given, all while being responsive to our readers and our communities.
We don’t take that role and responsibility lightly. Nor did Jefferson, whom Luce-Herrmann quoted to us last week:
“Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it.”
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Sincerely,
John Hiner
Vice President of Content for MLive Media Group
Share your thoughts with him at editor@mlive.com |
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