by James Coles

Created on: August 11, 2008

During the 20th century the Supreme Court turned the dry text of the First Amendment into a mighty defender of the people's right to read and hear a wide range news and editorial views by upholding the right of the press to pursue its mission, no matter how odious that mission might seem to some readers, viewers or listeners - and government officials.

The weapons draws its strength from a dozen major press-centered decisions and a score of minor cases. The courts have imposed some limits on this liberty, and questions remain as to how far this liberty will extend to the new media, and to some extent, about the more aggressive efforts employed by journalists to obtain the news. But as Justice Stewart wrote in the Pentagon Papers case, "without an informed and free press there cannot be an enlightened people."

Various states, and to some degree, the Federal Government, have attempted to force the direction the press - both print and broadcast - would take in covering news and in the tone editorials and opinion pieces by writing laws that would have imposed special taxes based on content or regulations that put limits on the kinds of speech that would be acceptable over the public airways. The intent of those laws and regulations was to limit criticism and discussion if both the formal actions of government and of cultural and social aspects of American society. The Federal courts, and specifically the US Supreme Court, have without fail, declared that such actions are unconstitutional.

The religious press - whether print or electronic - is no different from the secular press in this key regard: every news organization has an editorial bias; a position that colors its view of the world and influences the way its staff writes or speaks about the events of the world. And the Supreme Court has repeatedly reminded us that every voice is equal in the public domain.

The Press, what Justice Stewart called the 'fourth institution' in the life of the country, comes in every imaginable form and format; and is especially diverse now because technological innovation has essentially removed 'frequency scarcity' as a cause for close management by regulators. The American audience is no longer a monolith, content to get its news from "The Big Three" national networks. Audience segmentation and the wide span of interests created the explosion in media companies and syndication systems; each targeting a niche within American society; ranging from the wildly liberal "Free Speech TV

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