I agree the first amendment was put up for a reason and tried to solve significant challenges the press faced during British rule. I think the American press was denied certain freedom during the Colonial period where they could operate under the influence of the government. For this reason, they considered it the first plan in the first amendment, where they prioritized it. According to Craft and Davis (2016), Congress cannot restrict journalistic freedom as indicated in the first amendment. The term “press” now refers to every media. This has made it possible for the American press to express sentiments publicly. As a result, the courts have ruled on several cases establishing journalistic independence’s legal limits. I believe the outcome of the first amendment was a solution to solve a particular challenge of freedom that the media denied during British rule. The result of the first amendment stated that the court system would typically reject any efforts made by the state and government agencies to prevent media from publishing information, analyses, and comments about certain activities which took place in the government.
Since its inception during the 1860s, the American press has played a crucial role in educating, persuading, and motivating individuals to propagate nationalistic and patriotism beliefs. The government dictated what to be broadcasted in media houses during their rule. According to Mellen (2015), the print media could not post specific information since they were not allowed to reveal the top government secrets plans or any other activities except educating the public. This was replicated in the first amendment outcome where the court thought the need for certain essential information to be filtered, such as information about wars and war plans by the American troops. The amendment suggested that the media should be governed since they used public channels to transmit data.
Additionally, the FCC came up with guidelines that could allow a journalist to air content that attracts interest from the public, utilize efficient ways to do so, and address the needs of the people (Mellen, 2015). I think this change suggests that the authors were obsessed with the issue of freedom which the press was denied during British rule. Many shaping is done after the first amendment depicted the past activities and why they saw the need to establish freedom of the media. For instance, initially, they could offer more time to candidates in power than the voice of citizens who were less considered to give their views in media houses.
The regulations after the first amendment were to have equal chances for politicians, whether in or out of power; equality and freedom were emphasized. I think the accessibility rule by FCC addressed the need to focus on the community’s viewpoints. The media could address directly to the government the issues the local citizens faced and plead to the government to handle them (Craft and Davis, 2016). These were the grievances the press presented, and their inclusion in the Bill of rights guaranteed them to work freely without any influence from any government agency but to maintain the set limits.
In conclusion, the first amendment changes and improvements depicted how the press had suffered restrictions. The author’s goal was to avoid the problems and limitations of British control, what the government dictated to the media and their mode of operations.
References
Craft, S., & Davis, C. (2016). Principles of American journalism: An introduction. Routledge.
Roger Mellen, (2015)The Press, Paper Shortages, and Revolution in Early America
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