Abstract
TWO recent publications, namely, a book by Mr. Kingsley Martin published in Great Britain*, and a General Report by the Commission on Freedom of the Press prepared in the United States†, are devoted to consideration of the freedom of the Press, using that term in its wide sense. Both state clearly the issues involved and in such a way that there can be no mistaking the implications in the scientific field. The American report, for example, emphasizes the way in which freedom of expression tends to lift the level of social conflict from the plane of violence to that of discussion: it is part, in fact, of the method of democracy as of science, and the effective agencies for safeguarding it are the community and the Government; of these two, Government, through its elementary responsibility for maintaining order and personal security, comes first. We must also face frankly the fact that freedom of the Press is dangerous and open to abuse, just because it makes high demands on reasonableness in the public mind; equally we must recognize that the very power of Government to secure freedom of expression involves the possibility of infringement.
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Freedom of the Press. Nature 160, 413–415 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160413a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160413a0
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