Editorial Page Censors
April 11, 2011 - by
It’s hard to understand a newspaper endorsing censorship. But that’s what the Greensboro News & Record did this weekend.
An editorial Saturday endorsed a bill before the legislature that would block all political robocalls.
The editorial thundered that, not only are the calls “annoying,” but – horror of horrors – “under constitutional free speech guarantees, no limits are placed on what is said” in the calls.
Darn that pesky Constitution!
Brace yourself: Robocalls “can spread unsubstantiated and malicious personal attacks on opponents.”
Yes. And so can radio and TV ads. Or direct mail. Or even newspapers.
The editorial tut-tutted that robocalls are “cheap.” Apparently, it’s morally better to buy costly newspaper ads.
I’m sure that, if you did a poll, people would tell you they don’t like robocalls. So it’s easy to play to the crowd.
And, yes, the calls can be annoying. For that matter, campaigns, politics and democracy can be annoying.
But a newspaper that so zealously defends the First Amendment for itself shouldn’t be so quick to limit someone else’s right to get a message to the public.
Editorial Page Censors
April 11, 2011/
It’s hard to understand a newspaper endorsing censorship. But that’s what the Greensboro News & Record did this weekend.
An editorial Saturday endorsed a bill before the legislature that would block all political robocalls.
The editorial thundered that, not only are the calls “annoying,” but – horror of horrors – “under constitutional free speech guarantees, no limits are placed on what is said” in the calls.
Darn that pesky Constitution!
Brace yourself: Robocalls “can spread unsubstantiated and malicious personal attacks on opponents.”
Yes. And so can radio and TV ads. Or direct mail. Or even newspapers.
The editorial tut-tutted that robocalls are “cheap.” Apparently, it’s morally better to buy costly newspaper ads.
I’m sure that, if you did a poll, people would tell you they don’t like robocalls. So it’s easy to play to the crowd.
And, yes, the calls can be annoying. For that matter, campaigns, politics and democracy can be annoying.
But a newspaper that so zealously defends the First Amendment for itself shouldn’t be so quick to limit someone else’s right to get a message to the public.