The first amendment protects you…and your enemies

I began working in public radio, at this station, 25 years ago. In many ways, I’ve changed, and so has the station, but the values that guide our work have not changed; these values have deepened over time and seem more important as each year passes. I believe in and respect my colleagues, I believe in and respect the people who live and work in our listening area, I believe in and respect other public radio professionals across the country. More than ever, I believe that our job is to create a media space that acknowledges and gives time to all kinds of perspectives and opinions, and that no single opinion is allowed to dominate the civic conversation—majority or minority. I believe that our job is to foster tolerance, to create a place where intolerance is discouraged and common ground is nurtured.

Some years ago, when Nicaragua was embroiled in its civil war, a good friend of mine, a political progressive, defended the Sandinista decision to shut down the conservative dissident press, claiming the means justified the ends. I disagreed. Believing in the first amendment, believing in the right to speak one’s mind and to have access to even unpopular opinion and information, I had to disagree with my friend. The belief in freedom of speech and of the press is only meaningful when we are tested to extend those freedoms to people with whom we disagree. There can be no “means justifies the ends” when it comes to free speech.

I worry about the media environment in 2005. Niche broadcasting to “think like me” audiences dissolves the soil of common ground. Sound bites and simplification of complicated issues washes away the foundation of democratic society.

North Country Public Radio’s mission is to build the turf of the village green, to make it possible for us to talk to each other, because we are well-informed and respect our neighbors. This I believe.