The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution includes five freedoms.
Can you name them?
The answer is almost certainly no, based on the 2015 State of the First Amendment report issued by the Newseum Institute, a nonprofit organization that serves as a forum for First Amendment study, exploration and education.
In fact, the report says 33 percent of Americans can’t name even one of the freedoms.
If you do know at least one, it’s most likely freedom of speech, which was named by 57 percent of 1,002 Americans who participated in a national sample telephone survey in mid-to-late May.
Next most likely would be freedom of religion, which was named by 19 percent. Next would be freedom of the press, named by 10 percent, the same percentage that named the right to assemble.
The least likely to be named is the right to petition your government for redress of grievances, which was only named by 2 percent in the survey.
This year’s survey, the 18th of its kind, won’t put a smile on the face of anyone who advocates strongly for the First Amendment — journalists, for instance. Knowledge of the First Amendment declined in the last year. The percentage of people who could name freedom of speech decreased by 11 points from 68 percent; freedom of religion 10 points from 29 percent; and freedom of the press 4 points from 14 percent.
But that’s not the worst of the news for journalists. Only 24 percent of Americans said they think the news media try to report without bias, which was a sharp drop from 41 percent in 2014 and 46 percent in 2013.
An explanation in the survey suggests attitudes about the media were hurt by high profile stories about NBC news anchor Brian Williams’ embellishment of stories and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos’s large donations to political cronies. We who work in the media at a much more local level can only hope that explanation is at the root of the issue and the confidence level will bounce back. We further must hope news consumers can recognize not all journalists should be painted with the same brush used in those national cases.
The fight for credibility and trust is constant. We know we make mistakes. An old journalism saying is relevant: “You’re only as good as your dumbest mistake.”
But deeper than that, media outlets, including the H-T, must strive for honesty (see: Williams), fairness and completeness in everything we report. News must be pursued without fear or favor (see: Stephanopoulos). It’s not easy to earn the public’s trust; it’s much easier to lose it.
The Newseum report makes other key points. Americans continue to agree strongly that the news media should act as a watchdog over the government. But that agreement took a dip this year too, from 80 percent in agreement in 2013 and 2014 to 69 percent this year. The lowest percentage previously was 71 percent in 2009.
Fifty-one percent of Americans strongly or mildly agree that the U.S. Constitution establishes a Christian nation, while 44 percent strongly or mildly disagree.
The percentage of Americans who believe a business should be required to provide wedding services to same-sex couples, even if the business owner objects to same-sex marriage based on religious grounds, has decreased. In 2013, 52 percent strongly or mildly agreed with such a requirement; that dropped to 38 percent this year.
To the question: “Should corporations or unions be able to spend as much money as they want in support or opposition to political candidates?” 73 percent said no, compared to 23 percent who said yes. The gap against such spending has increased since 2012, when 63 percent said no and 30 percent said yes.
Polling was done before the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage. However, a question that asked if legalization would be good, harmful or have no lasting effect on religious freedom showed that 54 percent believed it would have no lasting effect; 31 percent believed it would be harmful.