The constitutional guarantee of the liberty of the press gives immunity from previous restraints. Or that the press can't come in. Yet, when Al Gore arrived at Columbia's prestigious training ground for journalists on February 6, newspaper and television reporters were banned from the classroom. Moreover, the students drawn from both the journalism school and the school of international and public affairs had been unequivocally instructed that they were under a gag rule, imposed not by a judge but by their own school.
Classes are off the record.
When I asked Associate Dean Evan Cornog when this policy was implemented, he didn't know. I asked if there is a written copy of the rule. He didn't know. Reporter Dan Mangan told Gore he could change that policy since he was the star of the lecture series. Gore was also asked by a Newsday reporter, Mary Voboril, if he could waive the policy.