Letters to the Editor: Find the audio leakers and give them a reward
Sunday
Nov 14, 2012 at 12:01 AM
I am not a fan of the proposed media tax. Not because of its merits or because I don’t agree with the notion of taxing media. I am not a fan of the idea because I believe newspapers are an essential part of the fabric of our society. They are not a monolith, and I believe that diversity and a free press are essential pillars of our democracy.
Dawn Eubank Sanderson
I am not a fan of the proposed media tax. Not because of its merits or because I don’t agree with the notion of taxing media. I am not a fan of the idea because I believe newspapers are an essential part of the fabric of our society. They are not a monolith, and I believe that diversity and a free press are essential pillars of our democracy.
Yet, at the same time, I recognize that a free press is not the enemy. I recognize that the news media were instrumental in ending slavery, in bringing the story of Dred Scott to the nation, and that without a free press one cannot enjoy the benefits of a participatory government.
During the past few days, however, I have been reading about and listening to a different sort of freedom of speech that is a threat to democracy and freedom.
It is not the freedom of speech that is threatened. It is the freedom that allows us to say the wrong things when we believe them to be true and to say the right things when we are wrong. It is the freedom that allows us to criticize the actions of a government when we choose to do so, and it is the freedom that allows us to complain about the people of other countries when we wish to do so. It is the freedom that allows us to speak of the things we do not like about our fellow citizens and our nation when we wish to do so, and it is the freedom that allows us to speak badly of our fellow man when we wish to do so, and it is the freedom that allows us to express concern about the plight of the poor when we wish to do so.
The freedom to express ourselves when we wish, and the freedom to express our displeasure with what we perceive as our government’s actions or lack thereof are both essential to a democracy. These freedoms need to be protected by all of us who wish to enjoy their benefits