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Article: The Captive Press: Foreign Policy Crises and the First Amendment.
- Article from:
- Independent Review
- Article date:
- September 22, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Independent Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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As you read Ted Galen Carpenter's The Captive Press, you get the idea that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom ... of the press" (the First Amendment) is a lot like "Thou shalt not kill": good advice, frequently ignored, especially in wartime. Carpenter's message is that restrictions on what reporters can learn and publish are almost always introduced with the argument that they are necessary to protect national security or the lives of troops, and yet usually serve no purpose other than to mislead the public into supporting bad policy or to protect government officials who have done their jobs poorly.
The few really valid military secrets have ...