THE FIRST AMENDMENT

Understand the roles of a free press in an open democracy.

“ 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 press is:

1  Interpretation and context — Rather than simply providing facts, journalists tell us what’s important. They
interpret facts and provide context so people can make sense of the issues.
2  Watchdog — The press holds the government accountable. It makes visible to the people what the government
is doing, so people can judge the actions.
3  Safety valve — Allowing friction and actually encouraging it means a free and open society confront its own
problems. Open discourse and peaceful discussions ultimately preserve the entire system of democracy.
4  Trustee — The media provides accurate information from experts.
The Fourth Estate
5  When the architects of our democracy designed the government, they intended journalists and a free press to
be the “fourth estate” to provide checks and balances to the three branches of government. They knew a well-
informed citizenry to be the only way to protect and preserve our freedom. America needs journalists.

News v. yearbook journalism

 The difference between news and yearbook journalism is the shelf life of the contents. Whereas news articles are
time-sensitive and can be updated and corrected as needed, yearbook stories cannot. Once the book is printed,
the stories live forever. Give careful consideration to each story in your book. Think about the events you would
want to remember 10, 20 and 30 years from now. Properly vet anything controversial before including it in the
book.

Do students have fewer rights?

 The First Amendment guarantees your right to free expression, which means the government does not have the
right to forbid you from saying and writing what you like. In school, you have the right to free expression as long
as the expression doesn’t “materially or substantially” disrupt classes or other school activities.

The First Amendment does not protect:

 Obscenity, fighting words, defamation, perjury, blackmail, incitement to riot, true threats or calls to commit
crimes.
THE FIRST AMENDMENT

“ 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
NAME:
IN-YOUR-OWN-WORDS ACTIVITY: PERIOD: DATE:

DIRECTIONS: Paraphrase each phrase of the First Amendment in your own words on the blanks to the right.

WHAT IT SAYS WHAT IT MEANS

“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.”

DIRECTIONS: In your own words, define what is meant by the terms on the left using the blanks on the right.

1  The press provides interpretation and context —

2  The press is a Watchdog —

3  The press is a Safety valve —

4  The press is a Trustee —

6  The press is the “Fourth Estate.” —

FREE SPEECH LIMITS
NAME:
IN-YOUR-OWN-WORDS ACTIVITY: PERIOD: DATE:

The First Amendment does not protect certain types of speech. Using this worksheet, let’s clearly
define what those types of speech are.

DIRECTIONS: Look up the definitions for the following terms and BRIEFLY paraphrase them in your own words.
Make sure that the definition you find is appropriate for a JOURNALISM context.

 Obscenity —

 Defamation —

 Libel —

 Slander —

 “Fighting words” —

 Perjury —

 Blackmail —

 Incitement to riot —

 True threats —

 Calls to commit crimes —

NEWS LITERACY
Use this checklist to evaluate news articles for truthfulness. Beware of fake news!
With the advent of social media, unreliable news is easier to spread, including shoddy, unresearched and error-filled
reports intended to mislead. Viral news is not always real. These stories are often presented on websites designed to
look like legitimate news organizations.

This form of “news” is easy to spot if you know what to look for. Consider these tips on how to evaluate an article to
determine if the article is factual, trusted and accurate.

Consider the source

Some satire news sites are upfront about their fantasy status. Others are not. Look for information
on the mission, staff or physical location of the newsroom.
Read beyond the headline
Headlines do not tell the whole story. They are intended to draw in readers. In an effort to be
satirical, some websites will invent outrageous sources.
Check the author
The byline of a news story can also give you critical information. Research the author. If no author is
listed, the article is probably fake.
What’s the support?
Bogus stories will cite official, or official-sounding, sources. Check them. If the source cites
government data, you can look that up. Check if other news organizations are reporting on the same
topic.
Check the context
Some false stories aren’t completely fake, but a distortion of true events. These news stories take
true events and twist them. Sometimes they link something that happened long ago to current
events.
Check your biases
Confirmation bias (putting more stock in information that confirms your existing ideas) is real and
must be challenged. Next time you see a social media post from a sketchy source, check to see what
other articles the site has written.
Consult the experts
Websites like Snopes.com and FactCheck.org debunk news articles. See if one of them has
investigated the article or “facts” of an article.
COPYRIGHT BASICS
An overview of what constitutes copyright and how to avoid being sued for infringement.

Copyright

1  Copyright law protects the original work
of writers, photographers and artists from
being reproduced by others. The government
established copyright law to reward and
stimulate the creation of these works, and to
encourage their use for public benefit. While it
protects the work of student journalists, it also
limits what they may use from other sources.
2  Copyright protects the way in which a
creator expresses his or her idea, but not the
actual idea or facts behind the idea. For
example, a conference cannot be copyrighted,
but a reporter can copyright an article about it.
3  Copyright protection is unavailable for
names, titles of books and movies, slogans and
short advertising expressions. However, both
patent and trademark law can come into play
with logos and graphics.
4  Only the creator of the copyrighted
work or the owner of the copyright is legally
allowed to reproduce, perform and display the
work. Any unauthorized use is called copyright
infringement. If you include a piece of
copyrighted material in your publication
without obtaining permission, you can be sued.

When is a work copyrighted?

5  A work is automatically copyrighted 6  A work is automatically copyrighted

when it is completed. An original work does when it is completed. An original work does
not have to be published to receive copyright not have to be published to receive copyright
protection. protection.

What is covered by copyright law?

 Literary works
 Sound recordings
 Works of art (including photography, graphic design, etc.)
 Musical compositions
 Computer programs
 Architectural works

For more information, go to the Student Press Law Center website at splc.org.
NEWS NAME:

PERIOD: DATE:

LITERACY
IN-YOUR-OWN-WORDS ACTIVITY:
DIRECTIONS:
 On the lines provided below, paraphrase the News Literacy checklist in your own words.
 Use complete sentences.
 If you don’t understand a term 100%, look it up and make sure that it makes sense to you in context.
 Your writing should be something that a fifth grader could understand.

Consider the source

Read beyond the headline

Check the author

What’s the support?

Check the context

Check your biases

Consult the experts

COPYRIGHT NAME:

PERIOD: DATE:
IN-YOUR-OWN-WORDS ACTIVITY:
DIRECTIONS:
 On the lines provided below, paraphrase the Copyright Basics definitions in your own words.
 Use complete sentences.
 If you don’t understand a term 100%, look it up and make sure that it makes sense to you in context.
 Your writing should be something that a fifth grader could understand.

Copyright

1 

2 

3 

4 

When is a work copyrighted?

5 

6 

DIRECTIONS: In the blanks name one real, specific example of the kind of thing covered by copyright law.

What is covered by copyright law?

Literary works - Computer programs -

Sound recordings -
Works of art - Architectural works -

Musical compositions -
Something else goes here