The Five Freedoms and Me

Freedom of religion, speech and the press. The freedom to assemble and to petition. Now I'm part of the 3 percent of Americans who know the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment — and I know them by heart. I am part of that special statistic thanks to First Amendment Center Founder John Seigenthaler and USA Today Editor Ken Paulson's First Amendment refresher. I was also reminded about the importance of breaking down statistics, of showing the faces behind the headlines -- or should I say, RSS feeds.

Amidst the crazy "media carnival" of news surrounding us, it's easy to forget about the basics, such as the First Amendment or why we're here in the first place: to tell stories. Whether it's RSS feeds, Twitter, or Facebook, we have more information to sift and sort through than ever before, which is both frightening and exciting to both a journalist and media consumer.

Today has helped me put this information overload age into perspective. The bottom line is quality. No matter what the medium, stories should be relevant and engaging. Instead of writing follow-up stories, we as journalists should push stories forward, advancing them in fresh and innovative ways. It's about deductive reasoning, and what medium works best. The key, said Val Hoeppner, multimedia manager at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute, is to make sure that people aren't statistics. Although I might be part of many statistics – including fresh Chipster, and now, First Amendment aficionado -- I never want someone to mistake me for a number. I expect myself to do the same with anyone I cover, in whatever medium I choose to cover them in.