| Americans are less supportive of First Amendment
rights than they were a year ago, according to an
annual poll released by the First Amendment
Center.
The survey stated that almost four in 10
respondents (39%) believed the First Amendment
goes too far in guaranteeing rights, compared with
slightly more than two in 10 (22%) last year.
The annual "State of the First Amendment" survey also asked how
important it is for the media to hold the government in check, with 82%
saying it was "very" or "somewhat" important, while 71% said it was
"very" or "somewhat" important for the government to hold the media in
check.
Roughly four in 10 people (41%) said the media have too much freedom,
compared with 36% who said there's too much government censorship.
The survey was based on telephone interviews with 1,012 adults. |