Here’s a quiz for you: without looking it up, can you name the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment? OK, time’s up. The five are press, speech, religion, assembly and petition. If you didn’t get them, don’t feel bad: a recent poll by the First Amendment Center showed only 59 percent of the public could identify “speech,” and it went downhill from there. Only 4 percent could name “petition.”
OK, so most people don’t know the details of the First Amendment. But what does that mean in practical terms? What do Americans think the freedoms are about? What do Americans think these freedoms actually mean?
Some 80 percent of those surveyed said the news media are an important independent watchdog on government. Forty-six percent said the media try to present the news without bias. But at the same time, more than a third said the First Amendment guarantees too many rights.
So, here’s the conflict: most Americans think they ought to be able to say what they think, but apparently are unsure about how they get their information upon which to base their opinions.
Certainly people can just speak off the top of their heads, without any knowledge of the facts. But that’s just empty rhetoric, and does absolutely nothing to enhance public debate on important issues. The fact is, most people have no direct knowledge of the world around them, so it is the role of the news media to provide the information upon which to have that intelligent debate.
Likewise, how do you know what to petition the government about, if you don’t know what the government is doing? It’s not enough to think you know what is going on; you have to actual know what the government is doing, and access to multiple channels of information, even conflicting information, means you can be aware, and act accordingly.
It’s been said “ignorance is bliss.” No it’s not. Ignorance about anything, including the First Amendment, is just d-u-m-b stupid.