Congress shall make no law abridging the Enemy of the People
What portion of Americans agree with Donald Trump that journalists are an, “enemy of the American people?”
How accurate was your prediction?
What is the big story this data tells?
How does political party affiliation impact Americans’ views on whether journalists are enemies of the people?
Over 1/3 of all Americans consider journalists an “enemy of the people.” Why do you think that is?
What is a consequence of 1/3 of Americans thinking the press is America’s enemy?
What do you think most Americans mean by “enemy” when they say the press is America’s enemy?
Do you think the press is America’s enemy?
When Americans think of journalists as an enemy of the people, what specific part of the press are they thinking of?
How different do you think the results of the above poll would have been before Donald Trump’s election?
Despite the feelings of many Americans we still maintain a very free press. Why do you think that is?
Do you think President Trump would like to get rid of the press freedoms protected by the First Amendment?
What are the actual words in the First Amendment which grant us a free press?
Who interprets the meaning of those words?
President and author of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I am...for freedom of the press, and against all violations of the constitution to silence by force and not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their agents.” Do you agree with Jefferson?
Jefferson also wrote, “were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers & be capable of reading them.” Explain whether you would prefer a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government.
Which would a person who sees the press as the enemy of the government would prefer: a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government?
Do you think Jefferson, Franklin, and the drafters of the First Amendment thought that the press was the enemy of the people?
A free press would have more quickly reported on the coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan China and alerted the people and government to the dangers they faced. Instead, the authoritarian Chinese government did not allow the press to report the news. Explain whether China should adopt the protection of a free press.
Think about the today’s news headlines. What is one story in the news today that an authoritarian leader would probably like to have censored.
Around the world, authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of CHina, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, Viktor Orbán or Hungary (the list could go on) do NOT like freedom of the press. Explain why authoritarian leaders don’t like press freedom.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that, “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of …the press.”Are there any limits the Court has allowed on the Press?
What did Schenck v. U.S. (1919) say about limits on freedom of speech and expression?
Learning Extension
Read the Cato Institute’s report on press freedom.
Action Extension
Ask ten people if they think the press is the enemy of the people and share your results in class or online.
Visual Extension
What the what?
