Eye Opener

An 

Opinion

                                by Alex Hutchins

Public’s Right To Know

US Constitution - Amendment I 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Journalism ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and of good practice as applicable to the specific challenges faced by journalists. 

While various existing codes have some differences, most share common elements including the principles of truthfulness,  accuracy,  objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability—as these apply to the acquisition of newsworthy information and its subsequent dissemination to the public.

But, how far should the public’s right to know extend?

• Do we the public have the right to know about any secret treaties our federal government may be negotiating with foreign governments?
• Do we have the right to know that our government is secretly spying on its own citizens and the citizens of other countries under the guise of homeland security?
• Do we have the right to know the private lives of other public citizens?
• Do we have the right to know if companies, operating in our free market enterprise system, are breaking the law?
• Do we have the right to know who invented what and when and why and how (any or all)?
• At what point do our privacy and our individual freedoms subordinate itself to homeland security?
• Is it possible for a Democratic Republic to lose its freedoms in an effort to protect itself from its internal and external enemies?

Free·dom

Freedom is the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: 

• He won his freedom after a retrial.
• Freedom is exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
• Freedom is the power to determine action without restraint.
• Freedom is political or national independence.
• Freedom is personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.

America is a symbol of freedom all over the world, enjoying as it does freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press. Our ancestors prized these political freedoms so much that many of them were willing to die defending them. And though many of us are often accused today of taking them for granted, we continue to see people rising up to fight for them when they're threatened (when someone else's freedoms are threatened, too).