B. The Press As Watchdog

Many constitutional scholars consider the point of carving out constitutional protection for press freedom to be to guarantee that the press is able to effectively question and challenge government policies and actions. The proper role of the press in relation to government, according to this view, is as watchdog: journalists serve an important function in maintaining both the honesty and effectiveness of government. Roy S. Gutterman, Note, Chilled Bananas: Why Newsgathering Demands More First Amendment Protection, 50 Syracuse L. Rev. 197 (2000). If government is left to its own devices, it will naturally tend toward secrecy and closed decision-making. Under this model of interaction, only a vigilant press can ferret out corruption and hold the feet of the government to the fire.

The classic expression of support for this role for the press in the national security context occurred in New York Times v. United States, a case involving the power of the government to prevent the publication of a classified study about the decision-making process that led the United States to enter the Vietnam War. New York Times Co. v. U.S., 403 U.S. 713, 717 (1971) (Black, J., concurring). Justice Black, in a concurring opinion supported by Justice Douglas, was highly critical of the restraints the U.S. government sought on publication in that case. He wrote that