COMING IN AUGUST
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Preserving Americans’ First Amendment Freedoms
A Conversation with Kenneth Paulson
by Martin Miron K
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enneth A. Paulson, co-founder, former editor and senior vice president of USA Today, is presi- dent and CEO of the Freedom Forum, Newseum and Diversity Institute. He is widely known for his efforts to inform and educate Americans about First Amendment freedoms, drawing on his background as both a journalist and a lawyer as the executive director of the First Amendment Center, at Vanderbilt University.
What prompted the framers of the Constitution to introduce the First Amendment as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791, and what does it mean to citizens in practical terms?
Actually, it wasn’t the framers who were so insistent on freedom of speech, press, religion, petition and assembly— it was the American people. A number of states refused to ratify the Constitu- tion until personal liberties were guar- anteed in a Bill of Rights. Those early Americans understood that the ability to worship the God of your choice, to speak out against injustice and to write freely would be the cornerstones of our democracy. These basic rights remain at the heart of what makes America a special nation today.
Why have you lectured widely about “rebooting America,” to make the First Amendment more relevant to a new generation?
My Rebooting America lectures have been an effort to remind young Ameri-
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cans that the First Amendment protects all the things that give life flavor. For example, we all understand that the First Amendment protects freedom of speech, but it also protects the freedom to tweet, to post on Facebook, dance, sing and create. It’s an amendment that enriches the lives of every generation.
A free press is a cornerstone of democracy. In the face of increasing corporate consolida- tion of media outlets, what do you think citizens can do to try to keep the news free from manipulation?
Yes, there are major media companies that own multiple newspapers and television stations. But with the advent of the Web, everyone is a publisher and there have never been more indepen- dent voices with more to say all around the globe. I believe that most of Amer- ica’s newspapers continue to do as good a job as they can in covering the communities they serve, but declines in circulation and revenue have meant staffing cuts. One way to help support a free press is to subscribe to a newspa- per, in publication or app form.
How do you think the public’s concerns about the energy, environment, food safety and other health issues can best be “petitioned and redressed,” as the First Amendment states? Most of the “petitioning” in America today comes from professional lobby- ists, but we now live in an age when someone with a passion for a cause
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