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A lesson from Tereza 

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Tereza is from the Czech Republic. Being somewhat unabashed, I quickly showed her the First Amendment printed on the back of the shirt. Her reaction? “That’s cool.” Imagine that, a young adult from a country with a history of political strife and dictatorships, thinks the First Amendment is cool. Moreso, she probably realized how important the five freedoms are and how lucky we are to have them guaranteed.

by Stan Zoller, MJE

My wife and I like to travel. It’s one of the joys of retirement. Earlier this year we decided set sail into the Caribbean to escape the cold and gloom of a Chicago winter.

Knowing I would not need sweatshirts, parkas and a plethora of other winter clothing, I made sure I backed plenty of shorts and T-shirts. And even though I am retired from active teaching and active reporting, I have not (nor will I) retired from advocating for press rights – whether scholastic, collegiate or professional.

So, I decided to combine my passion for press rights with the need for T-shirts by taking all of my press rights shirts with me – from JEA’s “45 Words” shirt to a shirt available from the Society of Professional Journalists’ “I Back the First” shirt, which, like the 45 Words shirt, includes the First Amendment.

It was a breath of fresh air to hear positive comments from people about the need for journalists and the importance of the First Amendment. There may have been some folks who took exception to a free press, but I didn’t hear from them.

One person, however, did have a question. A staff member at one of the beverage stations asked what it meant to “back the First.”

Her name was Tereza. She is from the Czech Republic. Being somewhat unabashed, I quickly showed her the First Amendment printed on the back of the shirt.

Her reaction? “That’s cool.” 

Imagine that, a young adult from a country with a history of political strife and dictatorships, thinks the First Amendment is cool. 

Moreso, she probably realized how important the five freedoms are and how lucky we are to have them guaranteed.

Two takeaways: 1. Perhaps she was envious. 2. Maybe we should be fortunate.

It shouldn’t take someone from an eastern European bloc country to reinforce the value of the five freedoms of the First Amendment. We also need to make sure that our student journalists don’t take the freedoms, especially Freedom of the Press, for granted.

A lot of people do. 

In 2006, when the Robert R. McCormick Foundation operated the “Freedom Museum” in Chicago, it surveyed 1,000 people and found that, wait for it, fewer than one percent could identify all five First Amendment freedoms, but more than 20 percent could identify the entire Simpsons family. Reality, what a concept.

With Constitution Day just around the corner (Sept. 17), it’s a good time to revisit not only the First Amendment, but the entire constitution and goals the framers had in mind when they wrote, debated and ultimately ratified and signed it.

As American democracy comes under fire, so too does the Constitution and the freedoms it has provided Americans since its signing 235 years ago. Student journalists – whether scholastic or collegiate need to do more than memorize the First Amendment – they need to practice it and perhaps more importantly, defend it.

With Constitution Day just around the corner (Sept. 17), it’s a good time to revisit not only the First Amendment, but the entire constitution and goals the framers had in mind when they wrote, debated and ultimately ratified and signed it.

It’s hard to imagine where we would be without it and even harder to imagine where we will be in the future if its foundation crumbles.

We need to agree with Tereza that it’s “Cool.”

We also need to agree that we wouldn’t want to trade places with her.