Appreciation for the First Amendment

I have millions of reasons why I love online multimedia. Designing's fun, infographics add explanatory power, interactive flash features are engaging, and the list goes on. But one advantage I didn't know until a couple hours ago is that there is more freedom in new media. Online service providers, Wikipedia, and blogs have absolute freedom of the press and are protected from libel lawsuits.

I wonder why new media has this special protection. Is it because it's hard to track the authors of online information? Is it because it's not feasible to ask people to monitor Wikipedia and blogs given their wide usage?

And the United States can't be the only country to have this law, right? Wouldn't all countries need to adopt this law for it to mean anything since anyone in the world can contribute to Wikipedia and blogs? Otherwise, Wikipedia and blogs can still face libel charges from other countries, right?

Today, we talked about how many people take the First Amendment for granted and many of my fellow Chipsters mentioned that the amendment was not discussed in their journalism classes. That's surprising to me because it was a major topic in my media law and ethics class when I studied abroad in Hong Kong. I remember feeling scared about pursuing journalism after learning about the defamation lawsuits in Asia. But then my professor emphasized how lucky U.S. journalists are as she explained the First Amendment--and it was the first time I learned about its effects on the press.

Today reminded me to be very, very appreciative of those rights.

Thank goodness that there's one less thing to worry about because I'm so nervous about 928579257 things as it is!

-- Cathy Tran, Spring Scholar,The Orange County (Calif.) Register, and University of California-Santa Barbara
...who hopes that more of this nervous energy turns into excitement!

Editor's note: Check out the First Amendment Center's Web site for more information about online and First Amendment protections.