First Amendment Symposium hosts governor's ideas on democracy
INDIANAPOLIS -- Journalism students, staff and onlookers flooded the Statehouse rotunda to celebrate the First Amendment Tuesday evening.
Many of these students will become journalists. Others will go through their lives as doctors, lawyers, dental hygienists or musicians, but they’ll still have learned something from their time as a student journalist.
The four principles discussed in the gathering – truth, freedom, integrity and courage – will become a daily practice for them. The First Amendment will become their favorite. Students spoke about each of the principles through personal stories.
The event was set up by Diana Hadley, executive director to the Indiana High School Press Association, with help from Franklin journalism professor and IHSPA adviser Dennis Cripe, along with many others.
The third annual First Amendment Symposium featured keynote speaker, Mary Beth Tinker, who became a poster child for the First Amendment at age 13. She wore a black armband to school and was suspended by the administration for her protest. Her case was one of the first to guarantee students’ civil liberties.
Gov. Mitch Daniels joined the group to discuss the dangers American democracy faces as newspapers continue to fade into the penniless oblivion. Daniels also mentioned the Rocky Mountain News, a 150-year-old paper that went under last week.
“If you’ve grown up without newspapers,” Daniels said, “It seems inconceivable to imagine a world without them.”
Daniels commended journalism as a check on the government, but especially newspapers. He said they’re able to dig deeper into issues and look for more than just the sound bite. He warned that student journalists are training for a job that might not exist in a lucrative profession again.
"They’ve always taken their responsibility seriously to get it right or to correct it later,” Daniels said.
Daniels compared the news industry to state government and took the chance to work in a plug for local government reform. Daniels has been trying for local government reform all session—something he said newspapers have helped him with by uncovering local government wastes.
“The one chance we’ve got, I believe, are the newspapers of this state,” Daniels said.
