Enjoyable as always, quotations about the First Amendment and journalism:

“It was the First Amendment that made the March on Washington, the march from Selma to Montgomery, the freedom ride(s) possible, the sit-ins. The protests were all expression of the right to dissent.” — John Lewis, U.S. representative, D-Ga., 2008

“Twenty-four-hour news organizations … are so focused on getting the very latest things that they lose sight of the most important things.” — Ted Koppel, former anchor, ABC News, managing editor, Discovery Channel, 2000

“I think it is a great deal better to err a little bit on the side of having too much discussion and having too virulent language used by the press, rather than on the side of having them not say what they ought to say, especially with reference to public men and measures.” — Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president, 1903

“When a newspaper dies, you don’t get a comprehensive periodical to fill the void. You get an informational vacant lot into which passers-by can throw their junk.” — Debra J. Saunders, columnist, San Francisco Chronicle, 2009

“The men who devote themselves to censorship are simply men who have not, with the aid of experience, wisdom, and honor, outgrown the childish desire for indiscriminate havoc. They are thus what may be designated as emotional morons.” — George Jean Nathan, editor, drama critic, 1927

“I’m exercising my First Amendment rights. If they don’t like it, tough. I don’t intend ever to have anybody tell me I can’t say what I want to say.” — Geraldine A. Ferraro, former U.S. representative, D-N.Y., 2008

— Quotes from First Amendment Calendar, produced by the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, 2010