Reporter firing should sound the alarm
The greatest fear of our Founding Fathers was the concentration and abuse of power in government. They saw the role of a free press as defending against such abuse; hence the enshrinement of press freedom in the First Amendment to our Constitution.
Recently we have seen growing attacks on the press when it is critical of those in power. At the national level, the executive branch has accused journalists critical of its actions as being biased and publishing false reports.
Unfortunately, it appears that this approach has now extended to our state government. The firing of a WUTC reporter after threats by state legislators is deeply troubling, both because it suggests an abuse of governmental power and because it demonstrates weak leadership in our university.
This incident is not about whether the reporter properly identified herself. Is there any doubt that had she portrayed the legislators in a positive light, nothing would have come of this?
As a former UTC administrator, I am saddened by the actions taken against this reporter. And as a citizen of Tennessee, I am fearful that our elected leaders are heading down this path, mindless of the genius of our Constitution.
John Friedl
Former UTC provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs
Internet privacy votes should be remembered
Sens. Alexander and Corker and Reps. Fleischmann and DesJarlais just voted to remove the FCC protection for internet privacy for citizens, paving the way for Internet Service Providers to use and sell your browsing history to anyone to use as they see fit.
In an age of accelerating cybercrime, they also voted to remove obligations of the ISPs to help provide protection against hackers and thieves.
If you are outraged, and you should be, remember their votes on this matter the next time they ask for your vote for re-election.
Jim Webster
Signal Mountain
Climate change what we say it is
A recent Free Press editorial titled “Sanity on Climate Change?” cites the 12th International Conference on Climate Change organized by The Heartland Institute where the point was made that “most scientists don’t believe climate change is mostly man-made ” So I wondered who is this Heartland Institute? Here’s what Wikipedia says: “The Heartland Institute is an American conservative and libertarian public policy think tank. In the 1990s, the Heartland Institute worked with the tobacco company Philip Morris to question or deny the health risks of secondhand smoke and to lobby against smoking bans.” The editorial also mentioned a citation about whether the oft-quoted consensus number of 97 percent of scientists who believe in man-made global warming was valid.
It’s really sneaky that the Free Press would cite this conference as a legitimate source of scientific thought about global warming.
This is the job of all of us in the age of Trump: Check all sources of information and so-called facts so you know exactly what you’re being spoon-fed.
Roger Davis
Signal Mountain