The first amendment grants protection for American citizens to have freedom of speech. It protects five general areas: speech, religion, press, right to petition the government, and right to assemble. Freedom of the press is a protection that is necessary for journalists, photographers, news corporations and all media. Without the protection, journalists would not be able to uphold their promise to deliver the truth to citizens who do not have the same access to politics, world news and current events the way the journalism industry does. Ultimately, the first amendment grants the press special privileges, but they are not guaranteed all access. The press is not free to do anything they want, they have special rights to get and disseminate information while facing certain restrictions.
The first amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of people to peacefully assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (Zelezny, 2011:41). The amendment is not interpreted by the courts absolutely or literally. There are restrictions on speech and the press. Freedom of the press means, “immunity from previous restraints or
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A concern for national security has sparked a number of cases. Among them are the Pentagon Papers case and the United States v. Progressive Inc. Progressive Inc. wanted to publish an article about homemade hydrogen bombs. When the United States Department of Energy was asked to fact check the article they instructed Progressive Inc. not to publish it because they feared other countries could read the report and use the information to advance their own weapon efforts to later use against the United States. In the end, other science journals began publishing similar articles and the case was