Being a COM major and having a whole week filled with interesting events for us to attend, it was hard for me to not find one that interested me. Per a suggestion from a friend, I decided to attend the first amendment food festival. I often think as Americans we take this right for granted, sometimes forgetting that there are people who are not allowed to have conflicting opinions or be able to share those opinions throughout media.
My Expectations:
Coming into the event, I assumed that it would just be a forum for speakers to discuss how we exercise our first amendment rights in modern culture and why it's so important to fight for our right to speak out. I also assumed that they just added the food festival part so people would show up. Boy was I wrong.
What Actually Happened:
The event was essentially a real time simulation of what it would be like if we didn't have our first amendment rights to freedom of speech. From the moment you walk in things are a bit odd. You ask for a sandwich and they end up giving you the opposite of what you actually wanted (I later realize this is done on purpose). Stuck in a classroom in Cottrell, we were not allowed to speak out or say the wrong thing. If we did we would be escorted out of the classroom and taken to be re-trained to basically keep our mouths shut.
Even though I knew it wasn't real, as I watched some of the students be escorted from the room because they said the wrong thing, I couldn't help but feel anxious for them. I became lost in the idea that this could actually happen.
Why This is Important:
Of course we can talk for days on end about why freedom of speech is such an important issue, especially for those who want to work in Media and Communication, one becomes much more aware of it's importance after seeing first hand what would happen if we didn't have that right. I've often come across tumblr and Wikipedia campaigns urging users to sign petitions to stop online censorship, and while I never signed them in the past - I surely will now.
Working in the field of COM encapsulated careers in the field of Journalism which is where I found this simulation the most relevant. Being able to report on events without being forced into a reporting propaganda or bias is so incredibly important because it allows us to learn all the facts and create and express our own opinions.
