VOA慢速英语 网络是在拯救, 还是在扼杀报纸?

　　The editor, James Franklin, was arrested and barred from publishing the paper. So he appointed a new publisher -- his younger brother Benjamin. And that was how one of America's founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, came into public life.

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　　VOICE ONE:

　　Freedom of the press is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Historians say a trial in the colony of New York in seventeen thirty-five went a long way toward establishing this freedom.

　　The trial involved, publisher of the New York Weekly Journal. The newspaper had criticized the colonial governor. Zenger was arrested and charged with seditious libel. English law defined seditious libel as criticizing the government in such a way as to reduce public confidence. It made no difference whether the criticism was true or not.

　　Zenger admitted criticizing the governor. But his defense lawyer asked the jury to decide if citizens have the right to criticize public officials. The jury found Zenger not guilty. Historians say the trial formed the beginning of the legal idea that a statement is not libelous if it can be proven true.

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