"…or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;"
Freedom is the foundation upon which this great United States of America was founded. Millions of men and women have lost their lives over the rights of their fellow countrymen. If the American press were controlled by the government, many of our freedoms would be limited. The freedom to express opinion in the newspaper would be censored, and political cartoons would not be allowed. Much of the news heard on major news networks would be prejudiced against anything that does not agree with the government’s agenda. Free and independent news media is important because it is the basis for many of the freedoms that Americans enjoy today.
Many newspapers have a "Mail Call" or "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down" section. This part of the paper is where people from the community can express their opinions and likes or dislikes. Many times correspondents will convey their appreciation or outrage on governmental issues. A press owned by the government would probably not be allowed to publish public opinion that slanders our president or the administration. This policy would not only restrict our freedom of the press, it also takes away our right to free speech.
Political cartoons portray breaking news in the governmental world in an amusing way. Many times these cartoons are funny and true, but sometimes they rudely depict administrative figures. The members of legislature that these comic strips make fun of would push to have the cartoons banned from newspapers and magazines. If law were enacted to limit political cartoons, the general populace probably would protest that their papers lacked hilarity and life. Freedom of speech and the press through cartoons is another reason to keep a separation of government and the press.
If the news media industry was owned by the government, the public possibly would be deprived of much of the information that it enjoys today. Anything that the administration believed did not agree with its views would not be allowed to be broadcast on the major news networks. In socialist and communist countries, the people are told only the news that the government wants them to learn. The United States is already leaning toward socialist tendencies in the choices that its government is making, and a news media controlled by the government would only drive this nail home.
The Founding Fathers of America wrote the Constitution with the faith that it would last as long as the country stood. Therefore, the freedom of the press must not be taken away from the people of the United States. The government should not be allowed to control the media, unless the media is taking advantage of the privilege of freedom. This country was born because of the desire of a few determined people for freedom. God has blessed America with more liberties than any other country, and the people of this great country must not allow those freedoms to be taken away.