The First Amendment and the Media in the Court of Public Opinion

The mortality muzzle: The effect of death thoughts on attitudes toward national security and a watchdog press

“…The five items, borrowed from other surveys regarding press rights (e.g. First Amendment, 2004; Yalof and Dautrich, 2002), had a satisfactory Cronbach's alpha of 0.79. The questions were selected because they focus on rights of newspapers and the press to criticize officials and publish information freely without government approval, which might pose a perceived threat to the government and national security.…”

Third-Person Effect and Hate Speech Censorship on Facebook

“…As noted above, in the United States, the First Amendment to the US Constitution has been interpreted to allow legal protection for extreme forms of hate speech that would be legally punished in many other parts of the world (Schauer, 2005). However, even with these exceptional legal protections for hate speech, scholars have routinely found that Americans' tolerance for hate speech has been shown to be low even though their overall support for freedom of expression, in general, tends to be high (Gibson & Bingham, 1982;Sullivan et al, 1982;Yalof & Dautrich, 2002). That distinction could be evaporating: a 2018 survey by the Knight Foundation found that American university students, especially females, Blacks, and democrats, tend to favor promoting diversity and inclusion on college campuses over protecting the right to freedom of expression (Knight Foundation, 2018).…”

“…However, just because such speech is legally allowed does not mean that it is socially acceptable. Indeed, studies have shown that even individuals who support freedom of expression in general harbor less support for hate speech in particular (Yalof & Dautrich, 2002). As the Internet and social media have become more pervasive and have afforded greater anonymity to speakers, the web and social media have become an important space for those willing spread hate speech (Erjavec & Kovačič, 2012; Nemes, 2002).…”

Educating for Freedom and Responsibility

“…The 2004 study also found a positive impact between participation in high school media and student support for free press issues at schools and at newspapers (Yalof & Dautrich, 2004). The 2004 and 2011 studies also found a positive impact of classroom instruction in the First Amendment on students’ support for three First Amendment freedoms—of newspapers to publish without prior review, of musicians to sing offensive lyrics, and of people to express unpopular opinions (Yalof & Dautrich, 2004).…”

“…The 2004 study also found a positive impact between participation in high school media and student support for free press issues at schools and at newspapers (Yalof & Dautrich, 2004). The 2004 and 2011 studies also found a positive impact of classroom instruction in the First Amendment on students’ support for three First Amendment freedoms—of newspapers to publish without prior review, of musicians to sing offensive lyrics, and of people to express unpopular opinions (Yalof & Dautrich, 2004). And the 2014 study, which found that the percentage of students who had taken a class dealing with the First Amendment had increased to 70% from 58% in 2004, found that taking such a class boosted the number of students who disagree that the First Amendment goes too far by 11 percentage points (Dautrich, 2014).…”