Response to talk on John Peter Zenger

 The First Amendment. Freedom of religion, speech, assembly, the press, and criticism against the government. The precedent for this amendment was, in part, set by John Peter Zenger. Zenger was a journalist for the New York Weekly Journal in the mid-seventeen hundreds. In 1733,  he published a criticism against the governor and was put in jail. When it came to Zengers' trial, the governor confessed that the criticisms were true, and the judge let John Peter Zenger go free. This was an incredibly important moment in the history of journalism. This set the precedent for the right to criticize the government, which is one of the most important jobs of a journalist (watchdog principle). It amazes me that Zenger was courageous enough to publish something like that. Back then, criticizing an authority figure could result in jail time and even execution, so obviously Zenger knew that the public absolutely needed this information for their own well being. Journalists today are risk takers, and they do what is right. This responsibility of journalists was set by John Peter Zenger.