The 1st Amendment Is For All of Us
– By Ed Kociela –
It’s not easy being blue.
Especially among Red-staters who talk a good game about the Constitution and 1st Amendment but who, when push comes to shove, put very little tread on the road.
I’ve been a part of the Southern Utah media since 1995. My tenure in the business extends far beyond that. I know a thing or two about the 1st Amendment. I see little evidence of it being supported strongly by local members of the far right who would rather silence opposing views than debate or discuss them. There are growing numbers of those on the left who also subscribe to that idea. As our publisher mentioned recently in one of his messages to readers, we are not immune.
I am, sadly, not surprised.
I’ve personally been on the long side of criticism, threatened boycotts, and even the occasional threats of physical violence as the voice of liberal thoughts and ideology. I was the focus of more vitriol than a human should endure when an ethically bereft editor with a bad accent and the scruples of a sleek street hustler created an abomination he called The Vent — a Saturday morning space devoted to printing anonymous comments from the public. Predictably, it became a dumping ground for hate. Since the comments were published anonymously some horrible things were said without attribution. It was the most irresponsible act I ever witnessed in the newspaper business. The Vent became a cowardly haven for the unwashed masses who filled it with venom and the stuff that litters the floor of corrals and stables. It was the print version of clickbait, to be sure — hardly worth the effort to those who believe in fairness and accountability.
And, of course, there were those who believed boycotts of our product were in order.
Yet, these folks, good Americans one and all, preached the sermon of the Constitution and claimed that the 1st Amendment should protect them in their assaults on truth and dignity.
Now, it is a favored past-time for folks to hate the hometown press. If you are liberal, it is always too conservative. If you are conservative, it is far too liberal. I get that. It comes with the turf and, quite honestly, my gig with the Los Angeles Times many years ago was the only time I worked for what would be called a liberal news outlet. All of the others have been of the conservative bent, except for my latest TDY here at The Independent, which I would describe as fairly moderate. A recent message from our publisher to readers indicated that not everybody sees it that way and that is truly a shame.
I’ve known our publisher since 1995. I have a pretty good idea where his head is politically. As much as he likes to color outside of the lines, I don’t see him as pushing the borders of extremism.
The thing is that you don’t have to push at those borders of extremism to be perceived as doing so. All it takes is a sentence, a word, an idea and you can innocently step into that no man’s land and that is all it takes, just that little seed of discontent that blossoms into full-blown disenchantment.
That is why, for more than a decade now, so many publications — print, broadcast, online — have been dropping out of the op-ed business and claiming to be fonts of “local only” content trading news and analysis for ambulance chasing. Threatened boycotts and such have placed editors and publishers in a very uncomfortable position. There are so many publications of every stripe that supporting revenue is more and more difficult to mine from the community to the point where some organizations are producing puff pieces in cooperation with local businesses that appear as if they are genuine news articles but, in reality, are paid advertisements written by news staffs and put forward as viable stories. Traditionalists would call it an ethical violation, an intentional misleading of readership with little differentiation between advertorial and editorial content. It is an effort to appease advertisers and readers with puffy little pieces of inoffensive fluff sandwiched in between the car crashes and obits.
Give ‘em a solid opinion these days and you are likely to draw more than the cursory criticism and barbs from the ideologically opposed who want those opinions silenced instead of using them to discuss and debate. We can thank, mostly, Fox News, where fair and balanced may be part of the lexicon but not the practice. Those opponents to the published word, however, are now much more likely to jump into boycott mode than in the past. They threaten to pull advertising, readers threaten to not spend dollars with those who advertise with the publication, and smack talk prevails.
Yet, when the tables are turned and they find themselves in line for criticism, they begin flapping wings and cackling about the 1st Amendment, which most of them do not understand. And, yes, many of those folks are the same ones who would silence those who represent another view. Let’s all say it together: Hypocritical.
Many years ago at The Spectrum we had a sports editor who wrote a column pointedly talking about the risks and dangers of gambling.
The casinos in Mesquite did big business advertising with us and took umbrage, so much so that they pulled their advertising in protest, vowing never to come back if the publisher didn’t make the sports editor write a retraction.
Our publisher, a standup guy from the editorial side of the wall, refused.
We had a general meeting with staff and he explained that we could stand to lose some substantial dollars, but that we would not have our content determined by who bought the most advertising.
About a week later, the casinos were back in the paper, advertising like crazy to make up for the ground they lost when they pulled their ads.
The good guys won. But only because they had the nerve to not be bullied.
As everybody who ever sat in an editor’s chair knows, it can be a crapshoot as to what will set off readership. It can range from the most innocuous statement to some egregious flaming of a person, place, or institution.
And, for the most part, we are a fairly innocent publication.
We’re known for promoting the arts and events in our region.
We are known for individual encouragement, for cheerleading — in a good way — about our awesome sights, from trails to climbing.
We are also known for an eclectic mix of opinions, some liberal, some conservative, depending on what occurs during the news cycle.
I don’t think any one of our op-ed writers intentionally tries to be overly provocative.
I trust in their level of sincerity. They may seem to be 180 degrees in ideological disagreement, but I believe it to be fair and true, not generated, faux emotion.
And for that I am proud.
As for me?
I am what I am and could not — would not — change just to be liked. It would be dishonest.
So, although it’s not easy being blue, it is all I know.
