Bill Keller Quotes
I don't think that there is absolute freedom of the press. We operate under laws - against libel, for instance. The idea that there is some absolute press freedom is kind of a myth.
Keller, Bill. Interview. The New York Times, 2011.
The evils of the time were even worse than in modern times. Most newspapers, journals, and periodicals were in 1835 actually owned and operated by political parties or people totally identified with political parties. In modern times, there are publications and blogs which are controlled by political forces, but most are not.
Arguing against explicit guarantees of press freedom in the Constitution Hamilton felt that the freedom could be maintained by public opinion and the good will of government:
Twenty year prison sentences were imposed for publishing left wing Bolshevik literature. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court:
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910. Twain was a much sought after public speaker in an era before TV and radio. Some speeches like this he delivered many times in many places.
The Masses was a left wing publication which the then Post Office officials decided were “dangerous”. Later, the Supreme Court would hold that there could not be this degree of political censorship by Post Office officials.
Bill Keller is an American journalist. He was the founding editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project, a nonprofit that reports on criminal justice in the United States. Previously, he was a columnist for The New York Times, and served as the paper's executive editor from July 2003 until September 2011. On June 2, 2011, he announced that he would step down from the position to become a full-time writer. Jill Abramson replaced him as executive editor.
