The First Amendment: What's it to journalists?

The First Amendment is possibly the most important one in the world of journalism. This particular amendment is what gives not just journalists, but every American citizen, freedom of speech. There are four other different freedoms granted in this amendment, and as journalists, we especially appreciate and live by freedom of the press.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights). This and the freedoms granted to us in the First Amendment allow journalists to essentially do their job.

With these rights, journalists are allowed to publish whatever they wish, on the grounds that no slanderous or libelous statements are ever made. Journalism happens to be the only profession that is protected under this Constitutional Amendment. Such protections are what allow journalists to post stories about the country's government and its officials, as well as stories about any other social and economic situations that may affect their own lives and the lives of their readers.