We have been giving a great deal of attention to transparency and right-to-know issues in many of our columns. Since the focus of Columbia news, views and reviews is to inspire community “connectiveness” and a sharing of community through “citizen journalism,” much of what is written is secondary-source material, correctly cited and referenced. We believe that documentation and cited references are less divisive and more constructive than “rumors” and false testimony statements.

Here is excellent commentary (Free Speech as a Safety Valve for Society) about the issue of freedom of speech and freedom from government tyranny. The title of this entry and this extract are taken from this exceptionally well-written document:

“The case of Whitney v. California was a landmark in the realm of free speech. It is perhaps best noted for Justice Louis Brandeis’ concurrence, which many scholars have lauded as perhaps the greatest defense of freedom of speech ever written by a member of the high court. Justice Brandeis wrote: “Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the State was to make men free to develop their faculties; and that in its government the deliberative forces should prevail over the arbitrary. They valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty. They believed that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile; that with them, discussion affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government. They recognized the risks to which all human institutions are subject. But they knew that order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies; and that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones. Believing in the power of reason as applied through public discussion, they eschewed silence coerced by law–the argument of force in its worst form.” [We thank Bob Shepherd, the author of this article for providing the link to the Whitney v. California decision.]

 We think this Website (http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/) is a particularly informative and authoritative source for a more in-depth look at first amendment rights of citizens and news sources. 

Public right to know

We believe that the public has a right to know the inner workings of governments and those organizations which operate in the sector of the public trust. There are guidelines and regulations to regulate, 501 (c) organizations for instance. It is insufficient to simply declare not-for-profit status. Pennsylvania has a handbook about how the requirements of charitable nonprofit organizations. Pennsylvania’s Department of State Website has a searchable database of those charitable organizations registered in the Commonwealth. There is more information about charitable organizations here.

The Internal Revenue Service, too, has information about charities and non-profit organizations, too; including a searchable database of those organizations which have IRS charitable and/or non-profit status. More comprehensive information is listed here. These organizations have revenue and expense filing requirements. Citizens have the right to examine the filings of charitable and non-profit organization filings. These are open documents.

journalists in public places

An excellent resource for citizens and policy-makers wanting to know more about informed citizenry can be found at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Website. The Pennsylvania Municipal and school codes are listed there, as well as the “public sector” advertising requirements and rights of journalists (“journalists are free to observe and record events that take place in public”).