I believe in freedom of the press, but what can be done about these problems?

Question

If one were to read the surrounding documents and records, one would find that freedom of the press was originally and ONY intended to allow a free discourse that included criticism of the government. This came about due to the oppression that always started out by silencing the dissenters.

What can and more to the point, should be done about agenda driven, misleading and outright falsehoods that are presented in the "press"?

This freedom is not absolute! a newpaper can be held criminally liable for insurrection, incitement and other crimes, because they are NOT covered by the intent of freedom of the press.

So what should be the punishment for outright lies?
Manipulated polls that are intended to trick and mislead?
Attempts to sway instead of report?

I realize that no person can fully divorce his/herself from a personal view, even reporters, but the twisting of the "news" is way beyond any slight coloring of the theme!
Thoughts?

David, good points all, but you , yourself, missed a very inportant distinction:
Freedom of the press is distinct, and different that freedom of speach.
Works of fiction are presented as such, making your point moot.
As for lies, you surely know that lies are not protected, in any legal way. in fact they are punishable in court with sanctions of freedom (jail time), fined or both.
Libal, and defamation of character are both crimes and they are 'speach'
ditto, false statements to the police, filing a false report, etc...
ALL of our freedoms were, again, originally designed as freedoms from-, not freedoms to-.

Answer 1

Freedom of the Press - a fine sentiment and a noble cause if the press is honest in it's reporting and reports news instead of editorializing events.

I remember when I was a kid, newspapers reported on events and always gave both sides of the story when there were differences of opinion.

This only happens rarely anymore, if at all. Newspapers (of both sides) have turned into propaganda machines that push the agendas of those they support and print innuendos and falsehoods about those they don't. I quit buying a newspaper when my parrot died and I no longer needed something to catch the crap.

The only deterrent to a crooked press is a well-educated and informed populace. Both are in short supply in our country. The education systems have succeeded in "dumbing down" America with their liberal agendas. It is hard to be "informed" when all you are exposed to is the liberal agenda of the alphabet networks and biased newspapers and magazines.

The Internet and believe it or not, talk radio, is the only way for a person to get objective reporting on the events that shape our lives anymore. Don't waste your money and time on other media outlets. Newspapers are in hard times right now because people are turning away from them for their news and opinions.

Answer 2

"or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;"
The key here is free speech, there is no requirement that what is printed be true or how else would you justify fictional works, they are by definition NOT true.

So what should be the punishment for outright lies? - One person’s lies are another person’s truths. Also, again I call attention to fiction.
Manipulated polls that are intended to trick and mislead? - Again, see above.
Attempts to sway instead of report? - The first amendment does not require the press to do anything. They are allowed to attempt to sway instead of report.

You added:
"As for lies, you surely know that lies are not protected, in any legal way." Actually, they are. I'll explain with your examples

in fact they are punishable in court with sanctions of freedom (jail time), fined or both.

Libal and defamation of character are both crimes and they are 'speech' - Libel and defamation are NOT crimes. You cannot go to jail and you cannot be fined by the government. You can be sued and force to pay damages, however it is a civil issue, not a criminal issue.

False statements to the police, filing a false report, etc... Actually these laws do not prohibit speech directly either, the restriction is indirect. These are crimes because of the waste of resources they create and fines are normally based on the costs of the wasted time and resources.

Outside of false statements to police, the only legal recourse against someone for lying is civil. A person can be sued for the damages created by their lie.

If you ever read the National Enquirer you can plainly see that blatant lies can be printed (Really, Martians in the White House?)

Answer 3

Just do like I do and never believe anything you see in the press at face value. And NEVER believe statistics. Far too easy to manipulate either through the math used, the people polled, and/or the wording of the questions.

Answer 4

If you truly want to effect change on the news media, boycott their advertisers. Mail the advertisers tell them why you will no longer buy their products.
Money talks and talks loudly, when the advertisers pull their advertising dollars, the news media will stop, lying and manipulating news reports and polling data.

good luck