PUBLIC: PRESS HAS TOO MUCH FREEDOM

By: Joe Strupp Yet Most Want To Maintain Access To Information



Americans believe the press has too much freedom in general, but
are hesitant to curtail specific aspects of news coverage, according
to the 'State of the First Amendment 2000' poll sponsored by the
Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center. The survey, conducted by the
Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of
Connecticut, polled 1,015 adults during two weeks in April.



Among the most notable findings were that 40% of those polled believed
Americans have too much press freedom while 14% believed they have too
little. These results differ from those of a similar poll in late 1999
in which only 31% believed Americans have too much press freedom. On a
different question with similar wording, 51% believed the press in
America has too much freedom, up from 42% in the center's 1999 poll.



'We believe Americans have lost sight of the watchdog role of the press,'
said Kenneth A. Paulson, executive director of the First Amendment
Center, based in Nashville, Tenn. 'There are disturbing numbers here.'



But when it came to specific ways of limiting press coverage, most of
those polled wanted to maintain press access to news and information.
When asked if news organizations should be allowed to report what they
think is important, 67% agreed and only 30% disagreed. On the issue of
whether newspapers should be able to publish without government
approval, 76% agreed and 20% disagreed.



When asked if newspapers should be allowed to criticize public
officials, 77% agreed, with 23% opposing such a view.



On the topic of Internet press freedom, 74% of respondents believed
that items on the Web should have the same press freedom protections as
those in books or newspapers.





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Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is an associate editor for
E&P.









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