Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the end of [achieving] a free society.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Press freedom exists to serve a free society, not as a goal itself.
- In plain terms
- Free press helps create a free society.
- What can you take from it?
- Rights are tools for social good.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What is the purpose of free speech?
Another view
It can be misused without accountability.
More from Felix Frankfurter
[It is anomalous] to hold that in order to convict a man the police cannot extract by force what is in his mind, but can extract what is in his stomach.
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