'Messy'
First Amendment better than speech codes, Idaho editor
says
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By Denise
Albiston
February 26, 5005 | Americans
don't really believe in freedom of speech as a
First Amendment guarantee, said Roger Plothow
during a Media and Society lecture Wednesday.
Plothow, editor and publisher of the Post
Register in Idaho Falls, said that while
Americans believe in the First Amendment, the
debate between freedom of speech and political
correctness is an ongoing battle.
"If the choice is between messy free speech
and tidy muzzled speech, I will lean toward the
former," Plothow said.
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BAD IDEA: "It's
a compelling argument to try and clean things
up, but I'm going to argue that it's a bad idea."
/ Photo by Jared Ocana |
His talk in the Biology and Natural Resources Building
was sponsored by the USU department of journalism and
communication.
Plothow said that one of the most difficult things
for a community newspaper is merging the paper's role
as an implementer of the First Amendment with its desire
to engage a community in civil communication. What speech
one person finds offensive, he said, another may find
perfectly acceptable. He said the question still remains
as to how far a newspaper should go in policing this
exchange.
"It's a compelling argument to try and clean things
up, but I'm going to argue that it's a bad idea,"
Plothow said.
Who will decide what speech should be cleaned up and
what speech should not, Plothow asked. He added that
speech is censored for fear that it might get out of
hand, but a real exchange of diverse thoughts, opinions
and feeling can never be safe.
"It's risky, personal, difficult and messy
stuff. A real exchange gets nasty; it's part of
the deal. It's patronizing to clean things up,"
Plothow said.
The basic underlying principle of free speech is the
market place of ideas concept, Plothow said. He added
that it was Oliver Wendell Holmes who said that the
best test of truth is its competitive nature to get
accepted in the open market. He said that if somebody
has a good idea, they should be able to put it out there.
The ability to express ideas openly is the theory of
the Constitution, he said.
In general, more speech is better than less, Plothow
said. Readers, if given information clearly and in context,
can arrive at their own conclusions based on what is
said, he added.
Speech codes are all the rage on college campuses today,
Plothow said. He added that these codes are truly poor
attempts to impose political correctness where the First
Amendment should be upheld.
In Utah State University's student code, one section
is entitled "Procedures for Freedom of Expression,"
Plothow said. He added that this is contradictory because
it's not really freedom of expression if it involves
procedures. He said that in his opinion, free speech
ought to be guaranteed on a college campus more so than
anywhere else.
College is about the marketplace of ideas, Plothow said.
Getting an education means getting exposed to different
ideas, and if those ideas are censored, than education
isn't really happening, he said.
"I'm not suggesting we become culturally coarse;
I'm suggesting we become culturally sophisticated while
embracing free speech," Plothow said.
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