Free speech is our right. But we shouldn’t take it for granted.

Erik Chalhoub here, reflecting on the First Amendment today, Oct. 21 in honor of Free Speech Week. 

I could talk about how free speech is in danger in the United States. Journalists are under attack physically and legally, while the federal government is constantly attempting to censor those it disagrees with. But you already knew that (perhaps because you read the Free Speech column in the Weekly).

I could go on about the dangers of not having local media, and how research shows that government corruption rises while civic participation decreases without having a constitutionally protected watchdog. But you already know what’s happening in your community and are active in it, because you read or watch your local news.

“Your local news” is the key phrase. Increasingly, communities across the nation can’t say they have a local news outlet. A study by Northwestern University found that 127 newspapers shuttered in 2024, adding to the 3,300 that have closed since 2005. We’ve taken free speech and our media outlets for granted, but in today’s volatile society and economy, that could change on a moment’s notice—see the recent closure of KION’s newsroom as an example. 

Let’s focus on and support the outlets we do have in Monterey County, not just this week, but every day.

Thank you to County Supervisor Glenn Church and the Board of Supervisors today for adopting a resolution honoring Free Speech Week, and to County Communications Director Nick Pasculli for stressing the importance of local media to the supervisors and the public.

“I don’t know if there’s anything grander than the First Amendment and free speech,” said Church, who brought the resolution forward to the supervisors. “It’s the basis for which all the rights in our country rest on.”

Supervisor Kate Daniels said the First Amendment was on full display last Saturday during the No Kings Day rallies in Monterey and Salinas, where people exercised their right to peacefully assemble that is enshrined in the Constitution.

Representatives from various media outlets were present at the supervisors’ meeting today, including Weekly Publisher Erik Cushman.

“Historians in the near future are going to be very grateful for electeds in California because you have the wherewithal and the backbone to stand up to authoritarian overreach, and that’s not the case in every other state,” he said. “History is going to be very grateful that there were working journalists on the ground asking difficult questions instead of parroting the government line.”

Instilling the importance of the First Amendment in future generations is critical to democracy’s survival. With social media making it all too easy for disinformation to spread uncontrollably, it makes it all the more vital that we also recognize Media Literacy Week, which runs Oct. 27-31. On Friday, Oct. 24 the Monterey County Media Literacy Coalition welcomes high school students to the second annual MisInfo Day at York School with a curriculum meant to help participants discern truth from misinformation and disinformation. 

Without the First Amendment, this newsletter wouldn’t exist. Read on—It’s your right.