The First Amendment. There was a reason why our Founding Fathers tackled the issue of freedom of expression first. For what is freedom if there is no free speech, no opportunity to agree, disagree, explain, debate, champion and even condemn? It is the essential building block for freedom and without it freedom cannot exist. But along with the freedom of speech comes an unwritten tenet to protect it through the application of responsibility. In the days of our Forefather’s honor, dignity and respect were virtues held in the highest esteem and free speech was one of the beneficiaries. Today the ideal of free speech, as our Forefather’s intended, is in crisis and the most egregious perpetrator of irresponsibility is our mainstream media.

As we start to unravel the web of deception that was weaved at the New York Times the importance of responsibility comes more into focus. Here we have a major publication, not only to New York, New England or the United States, but an important publication to the world, and it is revealed that one of their star reporters was fabricating the facts of his stories, stories the readers digested as the truth. ‘All the news that’s fit to print’ reigns on the Times’ banner but with one person’s irresponsibility the entire credibility of the newspaper comes into question. Through the abuse of his freedom of speech, Jayson Blair single handedly brought a credibility problem onto the head of ‘The Grey Lady’.

It is quite easy to employ the responsibility needed to champion free speech and The First Amendment. It is a very hard task to rectify the loss of credibility brought about by abusing the right of free speech through irresponsibility.

Partisan politics has tarnished many a publication’s reputation through the abuse of free speech. Editorialization of the news stories has erupted as the method of choice for many of the country’s news reporters, be they from the electronic or print medium. Through the editorialization of news stories many of the publications and news shows throughout the United States and the world have slanted stories for the good or the detriment of a political party. It has become a game of power overseen by the powerbroker that desires homage. Sacrificed daily is the public’s opportunity to gather all of the facts and/or accounts of any given event, devoid of the reporter’s outlook, in an effort to assemble an informed opinion of their own accord. The mainstream media has not been blind to the fact that today’s public has a taste for immediacy and like the heroin dealer who supplies to the demand, the mainstream media feeds the public its meal already chewed, swallowed and digested.

The responsibility required to assure the health of the First Amendment’s freedom of expression is situated on a two-way street. As much as it is the responsibility of the mainstream media to police itself and maintain the highest of standards in requiring that the facts be heard without editorialization, so too is it the responsibility of the public to demand that these standards be administered to.

Civic virtue, defined as people putting the common welfare above their own interests, is doing a slow fade to black in the United States today. The idea of doing what is right for the greater good is being replaced by the need to attain success in any given field. The truth is taking a back seat to ratings and the sensationalism that leads to their elevated numbers. They say, "if it bleeds it sells” and from this writer’s vantage point it looks as though if it isn’t bleeding enough the mainstream media finds it acceptable to make it bleed to their needs.

The First Amendment is in need of a few good custodians, people who will take it upon themselves to say to those who would bastardize its principle, "no more.” It is our responsibility, the American public’s, to express our dismay with the mainstream media’s biases and editorialization of the facts. If the New York Times doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to provide the truth without innuendo then we need to stop buying it. If the big three television networks can’t refrain from calling elections before the polls are closed then we should change the channel. It is through our apathy in these instances that we enable the mainstream media to continue the destructive practices that are taking a toll on our First Amendment right to freedom of expression.

It is time that we extract ourselves from the quagmire of apathy and stand up for the rights that we have been afforded as Americans. A good way to start is by demanding that our mainstream media hold themselves to an elevated standard that embraces the principles of truth. If we, the American people don’t assume the role of caretaker to The Constitution of the United States who is supposed to do it?

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.