The document argues that journalist free speech should not be regulated by the government. It contends that America has long upheld freedom of speech and press as protected rights. While regulating speech could reduce offensive comments, it could also set a precedent for the government restricting other freedoms and citizens' ability to access information from a free press. Instead of government regulation, the document proposes that journalists practice self-regulation and consider how their speech might affect others.

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Chasity McDougal
Harrold Blanco
FYS
29 January 2015
Journalist Free Speech Should Not Be Regulated
We as American citizens have the right to say whatever we want whenever we want, it’s
in our constitution. America is a nation of free will and we have the freedom to say, believe and
post whatever we want. We have had this right for a very long time and they expect people to
just be okay with being told what they aren’t allowed to say. Yes, people should take
responsibility for their actions and the things they say but we shouldn’t take away their right to
do so.
We shouldn’t let people from other countries try to scare us and control what we have
the right to say. A lot of other countries around the world are trying to control and take away
people’s right to freely say what they want and no America is trying to do the same thing. People
come to America because we have freedom and because they don’t want to live in fear, if the
government takes away our freedom then we will be like every other country.
The benefits of regulating freedom of speech are that there will be less issues with
people and other countries. People would have to watch what they say and know that if they
made any racist or religious remarks then they would face consequences. We wouldn’t be able to
say something that might upset another country, which could lead to a confrontation. We would
all get along better because there would be no racist, homophobic, or religious comments. There

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are many benefits to regulating freedom of speech and these are just a few. Other countries have
found ways to regulate speech and press to benefit there people. Steven Barnette states that “the
press must be held accountable for egregious abuses of its own privileged position within a
democracy”, this means that journalist should watch and take responsibility for what they write
and post.
Even though there are benefits to regulating freedom of speech there is also benefits to
not regulate freedom of speech. If we take away people’s free will then we take away their
security. People in America have always been able to say what they want, with little to know
restrictions. We can’t take that away from them, if we take away their free speech then who
knows what else they will try to take away from us. The government already has too much
control, we don’t need to give them anymore. Anthony Mills states that “The answer is self-
regulation. That could be accomplished through independent regulatory bodies with the teeth to
hold journalists ethically accountable…”, which means that he thinks that instead of the
government telling us what we can and can’t say, we take on the responsibility ourselves. We
can control what we say and think about how what we say affects people. We don’t need the
government telling us what’s right we should be able to decide that ourselves. There of course
will be people who go on saying whatever they feel but for the most part people would rather
filter their own mouths than someone telling them they have too.
Taking away people’s right of speech will only make the situation worse. Just because
certain things have worked in other countries and they monitor what they say and have
consequences does not mean that it will work here. This is a nation of free will, a nation of
freedom of the press and freedom of religion. People come here from other countries because

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they are tired of control and want free will. If the government takes away our right to freely
express ourselves then what else are they going to take away.
Journalist should have some restrictions but for the majority they should have freedom
to report what they see and about the facts. Journalist go to the most dangerous places in the
world to discover stories and information about what we want to know. They risk their lives to
find out things, we wouldn’t know half the stuff that goes on in the world if we didn’t have
people who are willing to go and find out the most interesting and insane stories. If we take away
their right to speak freely and tell them what they can’t say then we are taking away our
resources for information.
Now we shouldn’t be able to purposely hurt someone’s feelings or discriminate against
someone’s beliefs but journalist should be able to use facts and information to make a point or
tell a story. Journalist have a job just like everyone else and all they are trying to do is do that
job. They have a passion and a goal just like everyone else so why should we tell them that they
can’t pursue that dream just because you might offend someone. People’s feelings are going to
get hurt no matter what.
Journalist today are being put in jail for trying to do their job, like Josh Wolf who has
been kept in jail for longer than any other journalist in history. The SPJ is one of Wolf supporters
and had been for a while now. We have come to the point where people are so concerned about
other people finding out the truth that they are throwing them in jail for what they know.
When campaigning for any sort of office, there are a lot of people who donate money and
time. There is no reason that the candidates should have to tell us who they got there money from
and why. They have freedom of speech and freedom to accept money just like anyone else. This
is a two-way street, if we expect to have freedom of speech then we must accept our leaders to

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have freedom of speech too. We can’t have separate rules for the people and then for our leaders.
We have to be united and figure out what is best for everyone.
Stephanie Smart states that “Journalists are supposed to uphold this responsibility with
fair, accurate and unbiased reporting”, which is true they should but sometimes the truth hurts.
Sometimes they are just reporting facts that may seem biased. People want the truth but they also
want opinions, they want to know how other people feel on certain things to figure out
themselves what they feel and think.

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Lyons,ChristinaL."NonprofitGroupsandPartisanPolitics." CQResearcher14 Nov.
2014: 961-84. Web.29 Jan.2015.
Stoll,Michael."SPJDefendsJailedJournalistAtRally." Quill95.2 (2007): 7-
10. Communication &MassMedia Complete.Web.29 Jan.2015.
The Canberra Times - Stephanie Smart-,forum."Journalists'freedomof speechcomes
withresponsibilities." CanberraTimes 08Oct. 2011: 14. Pointsof View Reference Center.Web.
29 Jan. 2015.