One of the things you have to do as a journalist is field questions and complaints from your non-journalist friends about the common misbehavior, laziness, and ignorance of reporters. You hear stories about being misquoted, about some terrible moment in the coverage of a crime or a lawsuit or a tragedy that affected them, or questions about why one thing is covered and another thing isn't. They'll want to know why something can't be done about this. I try my best to patiently explain that restricting or regulating freedom of expression — even when it seems to be plain "common sense" — hurts all of us in ways we can't anticipate.
At those moments the voice in the back of my mind is Anthony Lewis, the long-time New York Times columnist who for years taught the Columbia Journalism School's required law class. Every Friday morning I would sit as he gently and eloquently explained to us the bracing, ennobling logic behind cases like Near vs. Minnesota and Times vs. Sullivan, about the peril of the Pentagon Papers and the foundational value of forbidding "prior restraint." He explained why the apparatus of First Amendment law and its protections is the delicate, beautiful, conscious construction of some of our nation's best and best intentioned minds. That it reflects and serves our civilization's highest values, and is perennially in danger of being taken for granted and picked apart by cheap, narrow-minded interests.
This class was one of the most important and lasting elements of my journalism education. I was sad to hear about his death last weekend, and am glad I had the chance to get that voice in my head.
At those moments the voice in the back of my mind is Anthony Lewis, the long-time New York Times columnist who for years taught the Columbia Journalism School's required law class. Every Friday morning I would sit as he gently and eloquently explained to us the bracing, ennobling logic behind cases like Near vs. Minnesota and Times vs. Sullivan, about the peril of the Pentagon Papers and the foundational value of forbidding "prior restraint." He explained why the apparatus of First Amendment law and its protections is the delicate, beautiful, conscious construction of some of our nation's best and best intentioned minds. That it reflects and serves our civilization's highest values, and is perennially in danger of being taken for granted and picked apart by cheap, narrow-minded interests.
This class was one of the most important and lasting elements of my journalism education. I was sad to hear about his death last weekend, and am glad I had the chance to get that voice in my head.
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