BEE369 Minister Martin Luther King, Jr. preaching at an event
The purpose of the First Amendment is to grant the ability for free expression of thought and opinion. Without this ability, what we think and what we say could be strictly limited to what the government sees as acceptable. The media would adhere to the government’s interests in what it wants the people to know.
Media is a watchdog on power. If the dog has no teeth, those in power have free reign to do whatever they see fit. The founding fathers wrote the United States Constitution in a way that prevents tyranny. The First Amendment is the most important bastion to prevent such an outcome.
Fin Martinez is a multimedia journalism major at the University of New Mexico.
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