The Boston Phoenix
July 13 - 20, 2000

[This Just In]

Free speech

Hey, you don't hate us quite so much

by Dan Kennedy

It's not exactly news that the public isn't all that enamored of freedom of the press, and that it's not particularly crazy about the rest of the First Amendment either. Thus the latest report from the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center, State of the First Amendment 2000, is more of a depressing follow-up to last year's report than a font of startling new information (see "Free Speech," This Just In, November 5, 1999).

Still, there are some nuggets worth pondering. As the media's highly unpopular performance in the Lewinsky/impeachment fiasco fades from memory, the press's negative rating has gone down slightly. About 51 percent of those responding to the Freedom Forum's most recent survey think "the press in America has too much freedom," a decline from 53 percent last year. Hey, you still hate us, but maybe not quite as much.

But the findings also show that the "too much freedom" faction had dropped to 42 percent last September, only to rise again this April, when the latest survey was taken, most likely in response to the wall-to-wall coverage of the Elián González story. Apparently the respondents didn't realize that there was an "off" switch on their televisions. In any event, though it's not surprising that the media's approval ratings rise and fall based on what's in the news, it's disconcerting indeed that the news also determines public support for basic press freedoms. Worse, 20 percent of respondents think newspapers should not be allowed to publish without government approval.

There was more-encouraging news as well. Seventy-four percent agree that "material on the Internet should have the same First Amendment protections as printed material such as books and newspapers." Then again, you have to wonder how the public defines "First Amendment protections" when 58 percent would "severely restrict" Internet content regarding explicit sex and bomb-making information.

Perhaps the most surprising finding was that, for the first time, a narrow majority -- 51 percent -- opposes a constitutional amendment that would ban burning the American flag. Then again, flag-burning is like Monica Lewinsky: neither has been in the news much lately. Let someone torch the Stars and Stripes, and you can be reasonably sure that repression will be the favored response once again.

More information, including the complete text of the report, is available at www.freedomforum.org.