"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, quoted above, is justly held to provide the basis for America's tradition of a free press. In drafting the amendment, America's Founding Fathers affirmed the fundamental right of citizens to be informed about all sides of an issue without governmental interference. Thomas Jefferson even went so far as to write: If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without a free press or a free press without a government, I would prefer the latter. Belief in the importance of a press free of governmental control has remained constant throughout American history. It is the reason why, among other things, the United States has no ministry of information to regulate the activities of journalists; no requirement that journalists be registered; and no requirement that they be members of a union.

In this issue, we examine the significance of a free press in its broader context. For as noted journalist Marvin Kalb observes in the interview that opens this issue, "a free press must have a legal, constitutional guarantee, but that is not all it needs." Time and again, the American commitment to freedom of the press has been challenged in the courts by individuals and even the government in cases of alleged personal attack or threats to national security. James Goodale, legal adviser to The New York Times during the publication of the Pentagon Papers, cites a number of Supreme Court cases that have addressed such personal and governmental challenges to the First Amendment. He finds that the Court has generally upheld the right of the press to pursue its mission.

At the time the First Amendment was written, the printing press was the only means of mass communication. Today, freedom of the press is understood to apply to radio, television and telecommunications as well. The First Amendment retains its pertinence even in a time of proliferating information resources, for the people ultimately decide how their press should act, says George Krimsky, the former head of news of the Associated Press World Services.

But how can we be sure that a free press will behave responsibly? Indeed, the American public is increasingly critical of the way its media investigate and present the news, says Bob Caldwell, editor of the daily Oregonian, who cites examples of how the media have tried to address this public concern.

Finally, contributing editors David Pitts and Deborah Brown report on a number of U.S. and international organizations that support the development of a free press around the world. One of these organizations, the Freedom Forum, has built a museum and a memorial to press freedom and the journalists who died trying to bring us the news.