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Free speech still free at the Arbiter
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Last spring, I accepted the Publication Board’s invitation to oversee the content and publication of the Arbiter. I also accepted their invitation to “defend free speech.”
Last week, I was again asked to defend free speech.
It seems every year, the Arbiter has its 15 minutes of free speech fame. This year, our fame was actually reduced to about 45 seconds on three local television stations. My defense of free speech became a ten-second sound byte.
My first sound byte in defense of free speech came when I was fifteen years old. You may have heard the story. In 1992, the Meridian School District imposed a gag order on teachers prohibiting discussing of issues relating to AIDS. Hundreds of students at Meridian High School walked out of class in protest of the gag order. The rally that ensued made top headline news in all the local media. The staff of the Meridian Warhoop thought the rally was front-page news also. I was a staff reporter at the Warwhoop at the time and my editor assigned me to cover the story. But our principal didn’t think the story was front-page news. He didn’t think the story was news. He didn’t think the story deserved discussion or mention in the student newspaper all. So it didn’t. The next week the Warwhoop staff ran a blank front page with the caption, “This space was reserved for the story everyone expected to read but we were not allowed to print.” That same week, I became a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union while many other students remained silent and in the dark.
I learned very young the importance of free speech to an educated and free society.
At fifteen-years old I questioned how free and educated a society could be when only a select few are allowed to speak.
So I have defended free speech.
My first lesson in free speech at Meridian High School led me to testify on behalf of legislation that would have prevented administrative oversight in high school papers.
My first lesson in free speech led me to ignore disciplinary threats from a high school principal if I published my voice. When I had no forum, I borrowed computers and photocopiers so I could speak. I’ve published independent. I’ve published underground. When I couldn’t find a distributor, I left my eight page photocopied newspaper on car windshields.
My first lesson in free speech led me to open the Arbiter as a forum of thought and expression for all who wish to speak. Students who use the pen to rant, rave, inform and discuss celebrate free speech every week in the Arbiter. The Arbiter has always been and remains open to any student who wishes to exercise their First Amendment right.
My first lesson in free speech also taught me that everyone should have access to a forum to exercise their Constitutional rights. The First Amendment guarantees the right of free speech to all people, not just those who can afford it.
Last week, 16 members of a self-proclaimed “student group” called Generation Life held a nice little pro-free speech rally outside our office. I couldn’t help but join them, as I too am a proponent of free speech. It turns out they were a little angry I wouldn’t surrender to publishing 28 pages of political propaganda for them. They say I censored them.
It seems they felt victim to an Arbiter advertising policy which allows all people a fair and equal opportunity to discuss matters of public concern. In the interest of lessons learned, free speech and equal and open dialogue, the Arbiter does not accept advertising that advocates a political position. You may have noticed the Arbiter was one of the few newspapers that did not run candidate ads last fall. Several ads have been rejected under this policy, including the national advertisement brought to us by Generation Life (the ad was also rejected because it did not meet space requirements – it was bigger than the Arbiter).
Groups and organizations that do present us with advertisements that advocate a political position are invited to express themselves for free in our editorial and opinion pages. The objective of the policy is to encourage open debate. Open dialogue is hampered when one group has enough money to print a 28 page ad while another group, whose ideas may run contrary, is pushed out of the discussion because they cannot afford 28 color advertisement pages as a means of speech.
Generation Life, whose ad was also rejected by several other colleges, was offered this opportunity to express themselves for free on three occasions. Each time they refused. It turns out they think free speech should be bought.
The last time I checked, the First Amendment does not guarantee the right of an advertiser to dictate the content of a press. The First Amendment does not mandate that a press bow to the demands of an advertiser. The First Amendment does not mandate that the press sell free speech. The First Amendment protects free speech. Money protects paid advertisements.
As an editorial statement, protected under the First Amendment of the United States, the Arbiter does not accept money for speech that advocates a political position. Speech is free at the Arbiter and cannot be bought.
I hope that Generation Life and students come to see the Arbiter as their open forum for free speech. I also hope that my lessons in free speech do not come to an end. Perhaps I will learn something from Generation Life. Perhaps readers will educate me about their position regarding free speech and advertising.
Please empower yourself. Distribute that speech. Go independent. Go underground. Use those windshields. Protest. Rant. Be loud. Throw confetti. Use the pen. Use the Arbiter.
Carissa Wolf