WASHINGTON, 17 May 2005 — As President Bush and his administration push their vision of democracy throughout the world, they should consider giving refresher courses here at home. It appears that a majority of Americans, and a high percentage of US journalists, are a bit vague on details of the US Constitution.
Only 14 percent of the US public, and 57 percent of American journalists, know that the First Amendment — freedom of speech and the press — is a guaranteed right in the US Constitution, according to a poll released yesterday by the University of Connecticut, which interviewed 1,000 American adults, and 300 television and newspaper journalists for the study.
Written in 1789 by America’s founding fathers, the First Amendment protects the freedom of speech, press, religion and assembly, and the freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances.
“Freedom of the press is at the core of America’s brand of democracy,” said Professor Ken Dautrich who headed the study. “It’s quite surprising that so few Americans can name it as part of the First Amendment. Even more disappointing is the fact that those who use free press rights in their work aren’t more knowledgeable about it.”
Asked to identify the specific rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, “freedom of speech” was most frequently named, at 58 percent; followed by freedom of religion, 16 percent. Even less identifiable than free press was the right to peaceably assemble, 10 percent, and the right to petition government for a redress of grievances.
Among the national sample of journalists, 66 percent named “freedom of speech” as one of the rights in the First Amendment. Thirty-nine percent of journalists knew of the right to assemble, 35 percent cited freedom of religion, and 6 percent mentioned the right to petition.
The University of Connecticut’s study also asked journalists about the importance of the First Amendment rights. A total of 96 percent said freedom of the press is essential to democracy, and 95 believed religious freedom also is essential. Additionally, 88 percent said freedom of assembly is essential.
But some Americans feel the press may be too free. Asked if the press has too much freedom in the US, 43 percent said yes, and 43 percent said they have the “right amount” of freedom in America. Another 12 percent said the press has too little freedom.
Conversely, only 3 percent of American journalists say the press in America has too much freedom, whereas 33 percent say it has too little freedom. Most journalists said they have the right amount of freedom.
Their ability to keep their news sources confidential is where they overwhelmingly agree: 96 percent said reporters should be allowed to keep a news source confidential.
Significantly, three-quarters, 75 percent, of American adults believe newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of a story, but 22 percent said government should be able to censor newspapers. In 1997, 80 percent said newspapers should be allowed to publish without government’s interference.
A survey of high schools students taken by University of Connecticut last year found that 51 percent of students agreed that newspapers should be able to publish with government approval.
Not surprisingly, journalists have strong opinions on the topic of newspaper censorship: 98 percent agree that newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of a story.
Television has become a dominating news source. Increased reliance on TV and the Internet come at the expense of declines in newspaper use and the use of radio. Today, 20 percent depend primarily on newspapers, a 6 point decline since 1997, and 9 percent rely only radio, a drop in 6 points.
Among those who currently rely mostly on television, 53 percent cite their local TV station as their main news source, 18 percent said Fox News, and 15 percent said CNN.
A complete copy of the survey results can be found at: www.dpp.uconn.edu
