Let’s remember the power and the gift of the First Amendment

First Amendment Day at UNC-Chapel Hill is a celebration. Of democracy. Of constitutional protections. Of the Founding Fathers. Of the ability and privilege of journalists to tell the truth of their times. Of other liberties like religious freedom and the right to assemble and protest. All ideas that can be difficult to accept at times, but ideas that make America what it is today.

This is the 10th year the UNC School of Media and Journalism, in collaboration with the UNC School of Law, has organized First Amendment Day, which will be held Tuesday. It should be a milestone celebration moment.

Yet this year feels so much less a celebration and more a reminder — a chance to validate the First Amendment and advocate for all it stands for at a time when it is under assault.

This has not been an easy year for journalism, the First Amendment and public speech. At its most dangerous, this was a year when local journalists serving their community were gunned down.

This summer, a man who was angered by Capital Gazette reports marched into the small Annapolis, Md., newsroom and shot five journalists. One of those was the husband of our alumna Maria Mills Hiaasen. Maria met Rob Hiaasen in the Triangle when both were young and idealistic, never thinking they were choosing a profession where journalists would be described years later as “the enemy of the people.”

Trust in journalism is low, although some recent polls have shown it rising. Polls of millennials’ views of free speech indicate belief in the power and the privilege of the First Amendment is at an all-time low, especially on college campuses, where many complain political correctness has replaced free speech.

I’ve spent most of my life as a journalist and communication leader. The university world is relatively new to me. I find it an important institution for debate, learning and exploration.

Yet it is not quite what I thought it would be. At UNC, I find the students impressive, dedicated and eager to take on leadership roles in the world. They are idealistic and open in a way many of us older members of this great university system are not.

I believe a university is where people with different points of view come together and listen to each other. Where students, faculty and alums want to hear not just from those with whom they agree, but also from those with whom they disagree. Because they want to learn.

I believe, and I want our students to understand deeply, that First Amendment protections have given us the world’s strongest democracy. A democracy built on the belief that speech is a right – even speech we don’t like.

I’ve been surprised how often I hear from members of the university community that they don’t like, respect or agree with a speaker, a student group, or a point of view. And they think that person, group or point of view should be banned.

How did we get here?

Free speech is at the center of everything I’ve done professionally. I’ve covered protestors who were criminals in one news cycle and heroes years later. I’ve seen those who broke laws become great leaders.

Nelson Mandela was in jail when I first went to South Africa, where apartheid was the law of the land. Israel’s Menachem Begin was a terrorist and years later signed the peace treaty with Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat.

Today, in our polarized world, one man’s free speech is another man’s vigilantism. I hear too much anger. I see too many write-before-you-think tweets. I witness too much name calling.

The First Amendment is a right. It is a privilege. And like all rights and privileges it demands responsibility.

This year, in honor of Rob Hiaasen — who died in service to his community, for keeping his readers and listeners informed, who pursued a career protected by the Constitution — I urge us to step back and realize the power and gift of the First Amendment. It gives every American the right to speak and the responsibility to listen.

It keeps us free.

This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 8:21 AM.