Jim Miller at SoundPolitics has drawn my attention to a particularly stupid editorial by the Seattle Times.

I have always felt that the first amendment prohibition on “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press” meant the people’s right to speak or publish. Members of the press are included with all of us in these protections, but they don't have some special protection afforded by the First Amendment.

This editorial is consistent with the view that “the media” has powers and rights not available to the people as a whole. This is not only incorrect but is dangerous in that it draws a false distinction between the free speech rights of those who can afford (or work at) a major media outlet and those who cannot.

The point is simple and unmistakable: the writers and editors of a newspaper have no more or less right to free expression than you or I.