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Accessible information central to freedom

When a rash of terrible events occurs, there follows a vocal contention that the tragedies are happening because of "the media."

That term, when used in such a context, translates to television, newspapers and radio, usually in that order.

In Seneca County, the reasoning employed is not hard to follow: If youngsters here had not learned about the shootings at Columbine High in Colorado, the copycat threats wouldn't have happened here.

But this head-in-the-sand approach not only would cause far more harm than good, it would be impossible to achieve.

Nowadays, information happens. Stopping it could only happen under total oppression.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, one of the reasons was the advancement and broadening of communications methods. The state no longer could keep the people in the dark.

If Americans had been willing to allow controls over the news media that would have prevented dissemination of information about the Columbine tragedy, the information would have spread &emdash; although slower &emdash; anyway.

The Internet and cellular phones are just two of the alternatives that would have been used.

Even if it were physically possible to stifle news reports, Americans &emdash; regardless of how they gripe about "the media" &emdash; would be a lot angrier if some agency or person was trying to tell them what they could and could not know.

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press have their burdens as well as their benefits. But through the centuries it has been proven repeatedly that accessible information is so valuable to personal freedom that the resulting encumbrances must be accepted.

Freely moving information is central to our way of life. Attempting to stop or restrict it because there are people who use it incorrectly or misguidedly would harm all people in this great nation.

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