There are ways to put the screws to Pinch's boys without violating the First Amendment. The feds can subpoena the editor Keller and his reporters and compel them to give up the person who leaked to the NYT in the first place, and then prosecute the leaker (Newt Gingrich's suggestion). I also supsect there might be a civil (lawsuit) remedy somewhere in the government's arsenal for the indiscretions of the NYT, WSJ, and LAT.
"What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."--James Madison
My complaint isn't with the First Amendment, per se. It's with one of its undergirding premises, that man can be his own watchdog. ("The fox guarding the White House, if you will.")
As for your ironic 'suggestions,' one or two actually make good sense to me. ;)
As the NY Times reconfirms daily, one substandard operation by a hack publisher / editor / journalist can do infinitely more mortal harm than, say, your average, run-of-the-mill medical malpractice. So why shouldn't being a 'journalist' require some minimal level of training/competence/character and a license?
"There are ways to put the screws to Pinch's boys without violating the First Amendment."
How about the Mother of All Class Action Law Suits, a couple of hundred million U.S. citizens vs The New York Times for the pain and suffering caused by their revealing classified secrets to an enemy who has sworn to annihilate us.?