User:Beasley Reece/Freeway blogging

Freeway blogging is a relatively new form of citizen exercise of the right of free speech. Freeway blogging is the act of taking a large banner with a political message, going to an overpass over an interstate highway, and holding up the banner so that drivers can see it. In this way a small group of citizens can reach 4,000 cars per hour, more or less.

Freeway blogging becomes more popular as a result of the convergence of several trends. One is consolidation in the news industry. In the United States, a huge percentage of the radio, newspapers, and TV stations are owned by only a small handful of corporations. Setting aside for the moment the question of the bias and financial interest of those organizations, this consolidation by itself is bad for the free flow of ideas and information because it means that diversity is limited.

Another trend is the increasing reliance by the mass media on the government itself as a source of news. Whereas the mass media used to serve as an independent source of information and thus the "fourth estate", this function is all but extinct. Relying on the government as its source of news necessarily limits the scope of news stories which are available to the mass media and thus the scope of stories that the mass media are able to print. When the government is the subject of a news story, relying on the government for information presents an obvious conflict of interest that prevents the mass media from objectively reporting the story. This is especially true in cases of government wrongdoing.

The internet (and wonderful sites such as Wikipedia) provide many, diverse alternative news sources. The problem is that readership of news stories which will cover stories that the mainstream or mass media ignores is limited to a very small percentage of the population. The ongoing Project Censored features the top 25 stories each year that the mainstream media ignores. They are doing their part to reach as many people as they can. However the pure finances of the situation determine that the MSM will be much more effective than conveying its message than the internet. Access to viewers through TV, including cable TV, is the name of the game. Internet and so called alternative news sources cannot come close to competing with the mass media.

Another trend is the more obvious increase in travel on interstate highways. Commuters as well as, in some cases, cross country or regional travel place tens of millions of Americans on the expensive and extensive interstate highway system every day. Americans are driving farther to get to work. We often live in communities where we cannot walk to shopping. The rise and proliferation of shopping malls, especially suburban shopping malls, contributes to this. Urban sprawl, combined with white flight and the deterioration of the inner cities, has created in America a situation where one must drive to go anywhere; to eat, to shop, to go to school, and to work, just to name a few. Those 4 activities probably account for 80% of the passenger miles driven in the United States each year.

Finally, Americans' dwindling attention span actually makes freeway blogging more appealing. While a detailed website can provide dozens of pages and dozens more links to other relevant sites on a given subject, literally an unlimited amount of information, Americans more and more are consuming the short, 5 second sound bite. Advertising campaigns are built on this fact. Political campaigns, including for the office of President, are built on this fact. In freeway blogging the banner may only be clearly visible for a period of 10 to 15 seconds. Furthermore the number of words is short, limited by the size of the banner. Freeway blogging presents short, well crafted political messages in short, powerful "sound bites", just what Americans are used to watching on the evening news, hearing on the radio, and reading in the newspaper.

Politically, America is becoming more apathetic. This is revealed in public opinion polls year after year. Not only are Americans more distrustful of politicians generally and the two main parties in particular, but they feel they have less of an opportunity to make any real difference. A growing perception is that the special interests or "powers that be" control the government at every level, especially the Federal level, and that the citizen who is neither rich nor powerful nor a special interest will simply not be heard.

In the age of terror, Americans have fallen into complacency. This is partly because questioning the war on terror has been presented as unpatriotic and partly because of the fear of retaliation for questioning it. Retaliation can take many forms from employment discrimination to gossip by neighbors to more subtle forms. The government selectively persecutes a few individuals in order to make an example out of them. Those examples are sufficient to deter the vast majority of Americans, who are well aware of the examples, from speaking out.

In the context of all of this, there remain some Americans who have resisted the apathy and complacency and fear that grips America. These citizens, often called grassroots campaign organizers or political activists, see America as an ideal where power is granted by the people to the government for the express and limited purpose of providing certain services for the people, and where all power, authority, and rights not so expressly granted remain with the people, or the States. This is in fact the sum and substance of the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution. These citizens though are willing to take action, often at some personal risk, in order to realize their vision of America.

There are many forms of citizen demonstration which are used to change public opinion and effect policy change. Whether known by the names direct action, civil disobedience, protest, rally, sit in, and so on, the goal is usually similar. The assumption is that by exposing the wrongdoing of the government to the people in general, other citizens will be "mad as hell and not going to take it any more". They too will be moved to action. When a sufficient number of Americans reaches this frame of mind and begins to take action, especially coordinated action, policy change occurs. That is, the powers that be in Washington, D.C. respond by providing at least some of the requested changes. Washington's response is not always intended to satisfy the citizens' demands, but given enough political pressure, the most entrenched policy can be changed.

Freeway blogging is a legal form of demonstration. It can be applied to any issue, any cause or support for any candidate that can be legibly written onto a large banner.

Fundamentally, the legality of freeway blogging rests on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protection of freedom of speech. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Many states have a similar Constitutional provision ensuring freedom of speech. For example in California it is Article I of the Constitution, Declaration of Rights: "Every person may freely speak, write and publish his or her sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of this right. A law may not restrain or abridge liberty of speech or press."

The history of freedom of speech in America is an ongoing, debate about the situations in which government may in fact limit freedom of speech. The most obvious exceptions are pornography, which is not protected, speech used to incite violence, and speech which otherwise may jeopardize safety.

Because freeway blogging takes place over or near a freeway or highway and the target audience is drivers and passengers in cars, most of which move at speeds of 65 to 75 miles per hour in good conditions, safety is a real concern. Generally, laws give state highway patrols the authority to take action which, in their good judgment, are necessary to protect safety.

In California for example, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) has the authority to regulate traffic to ensure safety or to expedite traffic. This is from Section 2410 of the California Vehicle Code. Thus if CHP were to assess or monitor a real life situation where citizens were freeway blogging and to conclude that the demonstration was affecting safety or slowing down traffic (which may pose a risk to safety), CHP would have the authority in this case to regulate traffic. Assuming for a moment that regulating traffic can be achieved by ordering citizens to take down their large banner from a place where it is visible to drivers, CHP would have the authority to do this. The key to this application of the Vehicle Code is the facts of the situation itself. Only by being on site at the situation and actively assessing and monitoring a situation can CHP (or any police agency) accurately determine the effect that a citizen demonstration is having on safety or traffic speed, if any.

As a practical matter, citizens need not risk the uncertainty and unpredictability of the reaction of the highway patrol, which depends largely on the identities and personalities of the particular highway patrol officers who respond to a call on a given day, and their mood or frame of mind. Government agencies are sometimes responsive to advance notice and planning from citizens. The benefit to citizens of a conference prior to the date of the freeway blogging event is that it may reduce the likelihood of a confrontation, arrest, jail, and the end of the demonstration against their wishes. In other words it may increase the chances of cooperation between the citizens and the highway patrol. The benefit to the police agency of such a conference and a negotiated agreement is that it can eliminate the need to treat a situation as an emergency. They would ordinarily have to treat an unforseen, unplanned situation as an emergency. The loss of several hours of time by 2 or 3 officers who might respond to a call can be avoided. Overall, cooperation resulting in a successful freeway blogging event can provide the basis for cooperation in the future. Simply put, a pre-event conference can allow the citizens to do what they want and enable the highway patrol to do what they need to do.