Eight Values of Free Expression - Marketplace of Ideas

Women Gossiping

I love gossip. There, I said it. Whether it's celebrity drama, a TikTok exposing a new side of a story, or everyone online trying to get the latest and juiciest story they will ever hear. 

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized my love for gossip actually connects to something much bigger... freedom of expression. 

Think about what happens when there is a really interesting story going around. There is almost never one straight story or explanation of what happened. 

Someone says one thing, someone else has a completely different story, then someone comes out with a three-minute TikTok explaining what actually happened. Suddenly, there are five different versions of the same story, and we get to decide for ourselves what we believe. As ridiculous as celebrity gossip can sometimes be, I think there is something surprisingly important about that. 

This is what made the Marketplace of Ideas stand out to me. 

The Marketplace of Ideas is based on the idea that people should be free to express different opinions and perspectives, allowing those ideas to compete with one another. Instead of having one person or organization decide what everyone should believe, we are exposed to different viewpoints and have the ability to decide for ourselves what we agree with. 

To me, that is one of the most important parts of freedom of expression; we are allowed to hear more than one side. 

Hands with Microphones

I started thinking about this in relation to my first blog post, when I wrote about Vogue and traditional magazines. When I think about magazines like Vogue, I think about how much control traditional media has historically had over what stories we see. 

There are editors, writers, publishers, photographers, and entire teams deciding what deserves to be put in front of an audience. Someone has to choose the story, approve the story, and ultimately decide whether the public gets to see it.  

Now this process looks entirely different. Anyone can have a platform. And no one is there to tell them what they can and can't post. 

I can open Instagram or TikTok and see someone's opinion about a celebrity before a magazine has even thought about publishing a story about it. I can see someone break down a political issue before I even knew it was an issue. 

I can listen to a podcast where someone gives an opinion I have never heard before. I can see a person with no traditional journalism background become someone thousands or even millions of people listen to.

This isn't just something I feel like I see constantly in today's world; it's something that data is proving. Pew Research Center found that 38% of adults aged 18 to 29 regularly get news from influencers on social media. The influence of social platforms becomes even clearer when looking at where young adults are getting that news: 43% regularly get news from TikTok, 40% from Instagram, and 41% from YouTube. 

Candace Owens 

This is where I think Candace Owens becomes the perfect example.  I actually like listening to Candace Owens, and I think that is part of why I thought of her when thinking of the Marketplace of Ideas. 

Whether someone agrees with her or strongly disagrees with her, she has built a massive audience by expressing her opinions directly to the public through social media, podcasts, and other digital platforms. She does not have to wait for traditional news organizations to decide that her perspective is worth publishing. 

One of the most important things about the Marketplace of ideas is that it does not require everyone to agree; in fact, it almost depends on disagreement. Candace can share one perspective; someone else can challenge it, and another can offer an entirely different explanation. 

We are then left to compare those ideas and decide what we believe. This is what makes freedom of expression so interesting and important to me; it is not necessarily about making sure everyone hears the same message. It's about making sure people have the freedom to speak and that others have the freedom to listen, question, and challenge. 

However, I also think this is where the Marketplace of Ideas gets complicated. Just because everyone has a voice does not mean that every voice is telling the truth. 

Social media can give us access to perspectives we may have never heard before, but it can also make it difficult to know what information we should actually trust. Having the freedom to hear different ideas also means having the responsibility to question them.

Loud Mouth Poster

That is ultimately why the Marketplace of Ideas resonates with me. I don't think freedom of expression is important because it guarantees that the "right" idea will always win. I think it is important because it gives us the chance to hear ideas in the first place. 

Maybe that is what I love about gossip more than I realized. It is not really about finding one perfect version of a story. It is about hearing all the different versions and trying to figure out what I believe. And in a much bigger way, that is what freedom of expression allows us to do every single day. 

The Marketplace of Ideas may be messy, loud, and sometimes completely chaotic, but I think that is better than having only one voice deciding what everyone else gets to hear.

AI Disclosure: AI was not used in the making, writing, or research of this article. Grammarly was used only to check grammar, spelling, and punctuation.