Ride-alongs
The Supreme Court hears down on media coverage
1 I III J
MATT PETERSON is a
senior English and news
editorial major and a
Daily Nebraskan colum
nist.
Whatcha’ gonna’ do when the
U.S. Supreme Court comes for you?
This is the question currently con
cerning the news media as two cases
questioning the constitutionality of
media accompaniment on police
searches are being considered by the
highest court in the land.
Both cases were filed by private
individuals against the law enforce
ment officers who allowed the media
to ride along.
Thus, the media is not directly
involved in either case, and the con
stitutionality issue has become a
dubious debate over privacy and
Fourth Amendment rights against
unreasonable police searches.
However, it is the First
Amendment that will truly be com
promised by a Supreme Court ruling
against the ride-along. And consider
ing the court’s skepticism toward the
validity of this practice - only Chief
Justice William Rehnquist seems hes
itant to ban ride-alongs - such a rul
ing would seem only a matter of time.
Justice David Souter has referred
to the ride-along as nothing more
than “fluff,” and Justice Antonin
Scalia remarked that the practice
served no purpose “besides P.R.”
Popular skepticism toward such
media accompaniment is understand
able considering the extremes to
which the practice has been taken by
the broadcast media.
Most people associate the ride
along to such television programs as
“COPS” and a host of “World’s
Scariest/Wildest” video specials, but
the news media has a considerably
more legitimate stake in this matter
than even the FOX network.
This issue represents the first
time in several years that the Supreme
Court has scrutinized the practices of
the news media. And considering the
dubious public regard garnered by the
media in recent years, there’s no
telling where this scrutiny might end.
For years, the news media have
enjoyed largely unqualified access to
every other legal venue and have pro
vided a valuable civil service by
bringing the public along for the ride.
When laws are established by
government, the media is there.
When the law is interpreted and
judgment is handed down by the
courts, the media is there (although
cameras are currently prohibited
from many courts, the Sunshine in
the Courtroom Act currently before
Congress would resolve this final
qualification).
And when criminals are punished
and rehabilitated by the nation’s penal
system, the media are there.
In order to continue serving the
public’s interest, the media must
maintain a working relationship with
the middleman of the legal system:
law enforcement. Averting the gaze of
the media - even slightly -compro
mises their ability to serve as a
watchdog, ensuring public supervi
sion of law enforcement and deter
ring police misconduct.
Lawyers hired by enforcement
agencies to argue the case for ride
alongs have, as expected, avoided any
discussion of the media as watchdog;
instead they have established their
defense on the premise that media
coverage deters crime and builds
public confidence in law enforce
ment.
I suspect that programs such as
“COPS” inspire more crimes than
they deter by granting crime and
domestic disputes an audience.
What’s more, the officers featured by
these shows display a sort of lime
light machismo that rarely inspires
my confidence.
The extremes to which such pro
grams have gone in the name of
entertainment should not dictate an
extreme judgment by the Supreme
Court in the name of privacy.
Indeed, rather than setting a
momentous constitutional precedent,
establishing a compromise between
the First and Fourth Amendments, the
Supreme Court is reducing this to a
debate over privacy rights.
Said Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor: “There is a very weighty
interest on the part of homeowners to
have privacy in their home.”
And the government lawyers
hired to defend the enforcement
agencies in question have willingly
conceded this diluted - and deluded -
definition. One of the lawyers report
edly admitted that he would be satis
fied with a ruling, known as the cur
tilage, that would keep the media out
side homes to avoid infringing on pri
vacy rights.
The right to privacy is a matter of
interpretation not even alluded to in
the Constitution. The Supreme Court
cannot back down from the fact that
this issue involves constitutional
implications in both the First and
Fourth Amendments.
What’s more, the press cannot
allow government entities to argue
amongst themselves over what is
unequivocally a media interest, or
there is no telling where this infringe
ment might end.
If television programs such as
“COPS” must be preempted, so be it,
but privacy rights preempting press
freedom is unacceptable.
Gripe Monday
UNL plagued by ‘The Man,’parking fascism and idiocy
m.mwm^ m_
TODD MUNSON is a
senior broadcasting major
and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
Y’all remember that show “Punky
Brewster?”
Think hard. It’s not like Soleil
Moon Frye was a flash in the pan or
anything.
Heck, now that I think about it,
the only things I remember about
Punky Brewster was the episode
where “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler
taught her to box, and the one where
she was deported from the loving care
of that old man and sent to an orphan
age. I also remember at the orphanage
she got to spout out all her 12 year
old woes during a thing called Gripe
Night.
I am going to declare todav Grine
Monday.
Reading about someone’s moan
ings and pissings isn’t exactly a good
way to start the week, but like the
doctor told me in third grade when I
went to the emergency room with half
a bologna sandwich stuck in my nose,
“We gotta do this, there ain’t no way
around it.”
He also promised it wouldn’t hurt.
Factoid: Anytime pointy forceps of
more than 12 inches in length are
used in any procedure, it will hurt.
Anyway, enough bologna, it’s
time for me to get a little serious, as in
Yahoo. He’s on the comeback trail
you know.
In my half decade here at Dear
01’ Nebraska U., I’ve compiled a list
of a few things I don’t exactly agree
with and/or like.
Back to the bologna for a second.
It’s the most recent addition to the list.
A few paragraphs ago, I men
tioned I had a bologna sandwich up
my nose, in third grade. This isn’t
true. I got the idea from a “Dennis the
Menace” comic I read in the third
grade, and thought it seemed funny.
I will let you know that in the
sixth grade I could squeeze a whole
banana into my mouth, so don’t lose
faith in me, I’m still an extreme dude,
yo.
Last month, I wrote some
baloney, like I usually do, and it
caused quite the ruckus, affect
ing many people. This hap
pened because a few high
and not so high ranking peo
ple thought what I wrote
was the literal true word.
Factoid: These are the
opinion pages. Stuff on this
page isn’t necessarily true. It
doesn’t have to be. If you want
facts, read the other pages.
Because of the rationale of “if it’s
in print, it must be true,” I got myself
and few dozen people in a dilly of a
pickle.
Which leads to my next concern,
if we’re all students at the same uni
versity, why do different groups of
students follow different rules?
If you re a greek and get in trou
ble, you answer to greek affairs. If
you’re an athlete, the Athletic
Department can hang you up by your
jock strap. And if you’re Joe Student,
The Man will find you when it’s time
to step into the wringer. And it’s a
time like this that I wish I would have
studied in high school so I could’ve
been accepted anywhere else but
here.
Since the situation is still rather
touchy, I will let you know The Man
softened up his stance and all is well.
However, the policy of punish first
then ask questions isn’t cool. The pol
icy is reverse due process at it’s finest.
Well, this policy has me soured
enough on The Man’s building i
(rhymes with Wreck Senter) that
when I become a rich and upstanding 1
alumnus like Lawrence Phillips, I’m ]
going to laugh and then give their
share of my excess wealth to the
KepuDiican Farty.
Then there’s the concept of racism
and homophobia existing on campus.
I will be the first to say college makes
a person darn smart. And it should be
apparent to any breathing student
here that racism and homophobia are
ideas of stupid people. As those guys
in Sigma Chi, “Duh, gee a cross burn
ing is our heritage.”
Speaking of greek students,
I’m of the notion that they get
a bad rap a little too often.
No, I’m not on dope, but I’ve
met enough great people in
the greek system to know that
they’re stereotyped by the bad
apples in the group. Hey bad
apples, play nice and think before
r you do stupid things and maybe
^ your group will lose its bad rep
^k utation.
'ft.
and Trolls” powerhouse. I better shut
up before some computer science
hack erases my identity.
About the master mind behind the
honors push, Chancellor Moeser is a
bit of a tool. I’ve never met the guy. I
did see him once though, and
Shawn ballarin/DN
About the name greek system, in
the age of sensitivity, it’s time to
change it. What the hell does the
Greek culture have to do with stu
dents living in houses? If I were of
Greek decent, it would bum me out
that folks refer to themselves as being
Greek without actually being Greek.
By that logic, I could be Canadian if I
formed the right club. Come up with
a more appropriate name, eh?
Student-wise honors students are
dorks. But not the honors students
that I know, because they have social
skills and get outside on a regular
basis. I like the concept of an honors
dorm, though. It will be a good way
k to ensure the regular students don’t
It get stuck with having a dorky
H neighbor. Also, with all that nerd
: ' power locked in one building, I
envision UNL becoming a “Tunnels
j|i|| he confirmed my thoughts. If
H|? UNL is to become a great school
mjf for the next millennium, I say
m* dump the guy who plays with his
gjjr organ and bring in someone who
W would pity the fools who go here -
| Mr. T. It’s time to oust the turkey
* with the reverse-mohawk and bring
in the real deal with the bad-ass do.
That alone would make me want to
earn a doctorate.
, Then there’s parking. I ’ve never
| had the pleasure of buying a permit,
' but I have gotten enough tickets to
believe that in the grand scope of the
universe, parking at UNL is pretty
low on the list. By being so protective
of a few square feet of parking, UNL
is bordering on fascism.
For justification or the billion dol
lar increase on parking permits, the
administration pointed to what our
peer institutions are doing. They
always do this, and I hate it. If Kansas
State jumped off a bridge, would the
administration make us do the same?
As the No-Fear T-shirt I saw at
Goodwill says, “Unless you’re the
lead dog, the view never changes.”
Woof.
Finally, speaking of change,
spring is here and soon people will be
out doing stuff, but not as a university
collective. The only time all the
diverse student groups get together is
Big Red Welcome, then for the rest of
the year, there isn’t an activity that
brings everyone together and I don’t
like it.
Grrr.
