A 1st Amendment for the 21st Century

SFGate Blog: The Ross Report ^ | 1/15/7 | Andrew Ross

[SmithL]

"A cease-and-desist letter is a form of dialogue."

-- David Millstein, general counsel for the Santa Barbara News Press, when asked why the paper's owner, Wendy McCaw, has opted to sue "when she has felt wronged, rather than engaging in dialogue with readers or her news staff," according to the New York Times ('A Newsroom Fight Spills Into the Streets of a Once-Peaceful Town').

Mr. Millstein said the legal actions were merely a way for Mrs. McCaw to demonstrate her belief that she had the right to express her views through the newspaper, and to defend herself from critics, according to The New York Times.

"Why do we feel ganged up on? A newspaper's credibility is its stock in trade," he said in an interview after last week's hearing over management's objections to the union vote [by the paper's staff members, to unionize].

"To have people we've knocked in editorials, former employees and the Teamsters knocking us -- all of whom have an ax to grind -- is difficult for any business to tolerate."

[SmithL]

[SmithL]

FYI

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

The Second Amendment gives as the reason for allowing private ownershp of weapons an actual need for those arms for the security of a free state. The First Amendment does not justify the freedoms it codifies; there is no indication in the Constitution that "the press" is necessary to the government or seperate from the people.

"The press" doesn't like that at all; journalists consider themselves to be above the people at large.