Suppression of free speech

I wish the problem of free speech would go away. It has been around my entire lifetime. My grandfather, a job printer and newspaper publisher/owner in Chicago during my early years, was closed up repeatedly during World War II for his anti-FDR editorials. My father told me the print shop was padlocked by federal officials, Gramps was charged with sedition, and one day short of six months later was allowed to re-open. His shop was padlocked again the next day when he attempted to publish yet another anti-FDR editorial; he was silenced this way throughout the war. There is probably no way to verify the story but I suspect it was in the main true. He did not seem to be a seditious man, just a kindly grandfather.

Not long ago, writer Sara Paretsky discussed suppression of free speech in a lecture at The Coeur d'Alene Resort to which we were invited by Nancy and Art Flagan; several hundred people listened to Paretsky describe numerous instances in which free speech had been denied. I have always loved her V. I. Warshawski novels but had no idea that Paretsky is also a deep thinking intellectual who owns a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago where it is tough to finish a doctorate in anything.

A good friend, lawyer and professor of journalism at Northern Arizona University, Dr. Martin Sommerness, brought to my attention recently that MSNBC suspended commentator Keith Olbermann for donating to the election campaigns of two U.S. House members from Arizona and a candidate for Attorney General in Kentucky. Many news people supported Olbermann; they argued MSNBC was using outmoded ethics to justify the suspension. There may be valid reasons for criticism of Olbermann but I find it difficult to justify the suspension of a newscaster for donations to political campaigns. Some media have strict rules for employees; one newspaper I know forbade writers from joining volunteer boards, which I thought extreme. Another forbade free tickets even for reviewing purposes.

In recent years, some pretty famous celebrities have gotten into hot water over on-air remarks. Jimmy the Greek lost his job altogether. Andy Rooney almost bit the dust twice, once for a remark about gays and another time for one about blacks. At the risk of being called a racist myself, I thought both Snyder (Jimmy the Greek) and Rooney deserved to be heard; their comments had intellectual content. I am not so sure that Don Imus deserved protection for his thoughtless comments about some pretty talented black women but he got his old job back for the same reason Rooney did: the networks were more interested in money than political correctness. When Rooney was actually suspended in 1990, ratings for "60 Minutes" dropped 20 percent. I was glad to see him back but would have been more comfortable had CBS shown interest in protecting speech rather than profits.

We have had local issues. Nils Rosdahl, adviser to the North Idaho College Sentinel who recently announced his retirement, was nearly booted from the NIC faculty years ago; I don't know the details but content was the main issue, as the rumors go. Editors come and go; at least one left The Press over disagreement with the publisher about what should and should not be included in the paper. My good friend Dean Miller lost his job at the Post-Register in Idaho Falls, probably over some stories he printed about the paper's owner, also a candidate for governor of Idaho. There have been many editorial changes at The Spokesman-Review but I am not aware of disputes over news content. Maybe the publisher suppressed the stories.

Tim Hunt, the son of a linotype operator, is a retired college professor and nonprofit administrator who lives in Hayden with his wife and three cats. He can be reached at linotype.hunt785@gmail.com.