High School Essay Winners and Honorable Mentions

Burma is ranked by Freedom House as the second worst country in the world for journalists. It is also ranked second worst in the world in regard to civil liberties. These corresponding rankings are no coincidence. Countries where the press is repressed open the door for the abridgement of other civil liberties. Nations like China with high censorship have also been the stage for even worse abuses against human rights, one example being the Tiananmen Square Massacre. If the government is allowed to prevent members of the media from saying what they think or writing what they believe, what is there to stop the state from also forcing its citizens to act according to its will? In the United States, the press has always functioned as a watchdog for government, sounding the alarm if the state becomes corrupt or oppressive. In more than one instance the press in the United States has been what has helped prevent undemocratic regimes from taking power the way they have in nations where the press is limited. It was Harper’s Weekly and the cartoons of Thomas Nast that challenged gilded age politicians and put an end to corrupt policymakers like Boss Tweed. At a time when many of the other papers had been bought by Tammany Hall, Harper’s Weekly remained one of the few independent papers, and without such free voices, the corruption might have persisted. Without a free and independent press there would be no one to even bring about awareness of corruption in government, let along prevent it.

Rest of essay

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." This is the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Imperative among these rights is freedom of the press, a liberty that is not enjoyed by all nations. Free and independent news media are important because they provide people with objective and current information that can be used to formulate opinions as well as carry out responsive action.

Rest of essay

Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States, was a major advocate of freedom of the press, even though he felt journalists sometimes treated him unfairly. In 1787, Jefferson said, "…were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." By saying this, he stressed the immense importance that free and independent news media play in a well-informed, democratic society. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives Americans the freedom to speak their minds and write and publish what they think is right, without dear of being punished or imprisoned by the government. This means that a newspaper can publish highly critical things about the government without fear of being censured or shut down. Even in cases in which the government has attempted to restrain a free press, the courts have upheld the newspapers’ right to publish their articles.

Rest of essay