National Newspaper Week which starts today provides a good opportunity to underline the public benefits of a free press. Theme for the observance, “Our Freedom Safeguards Your Freedom,” stresses an important truth. The symbol is a close-up, stylized head of the Statue of Liberty with a background symbolic of newspaper type and copy from the First Amendment which provides that “Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of the press” W ‘le the constitution is the basis for the free press Americans enjoy, the document by itself doesn’t automatically guarantee the freedom. Reporters, editors, and publishers continually find themselves engaged in fighting for the people’s right to know. Generally public officials understand and recognize the concept and role of a free press…and consistently cooperate. Yet, time and time again the press must stand its ground against adverse court rulings, executive branch run-arounds, and “cover-ups” and unwarranted “executive sessions” at all levels of govemment. Don Fitzgerald, director of the Kansas Press Association, this year’s Newspaper week chairman, believes a large segment of the reading public believes the right to retain open courts, open meetings, and open government mainly is an effort by the press to make the profession of news handling simpler and easy for the working press. Such people, including many government officials, simply do not understand, In truth, our! H overriding concern is th public’s right. In simple terms, freedom of the press is the liberty to print without previous license or restraint information that belongs to the public. This freedom is subject to the consequences of the law. and the publisher is legally responsible for any material he prints. To reiterate, when we challenge attempts to suppress news, we are doing our job in defense of readers’ rights. Last year in a controversial 5-4 decision in the widely-publicized GannettDePasquale case, the Supreme Court upheld a New York trial judge who closed his courtroom to public and press. Commenting on that case and a court justice’s swipes at the press, journalist James Kilpatrick made this pertinent statement: “Imperfect we surely are, but we of the press are the only ears, voices and eyes the people have to report the day s court-news as it occurs. To deny us a right of access is to strike us deaf, dumb and blind. Yes, the rights of an accused are important. So, are the rights of society as 1 a whole.” I “Our Freedom’ Safeguards Your Freedom? It’s a good slogan all right – an accurate summation which the reading public should keep in mind.