These are the voices and viewpoints of five individual thinkers presented in LIBERTY: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, the first of three programs in DECLARATIONS: ESSAYS ON AMERICAN IDEALS. This debut public affairs series from the Independent Television Service is a provocative discussion of America's basic societal values.

More than 200 years after the Declaration of Independence was written, our inalienable right to free expression is still under contention. This program confronts some of the most pressing current challenges to freedom of expression in America. It does so in provocative television essays, created in collaborations between five independent producers and the five individuals quoted above.

The hour-long program offers alternative views in soapbox commentaries by Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.N. ambassador and comedian RENO. Raising even more issues via on-the-street interviews with a strip club owner, a Native American woman, record store shoppers, a rabbi, students, a man in a hot tub, and others, LIBERTY: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION demonstrates the complexity and controversy surrounding this American right.

Featured program segments, essayists and independent producers are:

Drawing the Line - Independent producer David K. Liu with Charles J. Sykes, radio host, and author of A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character, look at parental and family responsibilities in contrast to the values of popular culture reflected in talk shows, in malls and on MTV. Sykes questions the value of free speech in a society where the messages of popular culture contradict the family values a parent strives to teach his children.

Disturbing the Peace - Independent producer Akili Buchanan and pop historian James Bernard show why disturbing the peace is an important form of free expression. Bernard talks with and plays the music of rap musicians (Paris, G-Bone, Ice-T and others), who have "sparked an important dialogue in this country about issues relating to race, class, and urban policy." They are part of a new generation of "disturbers of the peace," Bernard says, and efforts to prevent them from being heard not only inhibit free expression among young musicians, but also attack the very foundation of free speech. Bernard argues "the topical language and controversial subjects of rap and hip-hop are precisely what makes these songs important for the rest of society to hear."

Inquisition - Independent producer Udi Eichler and author Salman Rushdie confront the reality of restricted expression. The exiled Rushdie, who has been in hiding since Islamic fundamentalists called for his execution for blasphemy upon the publication of his book Satanic Verses, delivers his declaration on freedom of expression from an undisclosed location. His moving and intense message forms a vivid backdrop for the other views of freedom of expression in America.

Words That Wound - Independent producers Orlando Bagwell and Leslie Farrell, with legal scholar Mari J. Matsuda, investigate the sometimes wounding power of words in Washington, D.C. and Boston. Matsuda argues that "Rights cannot be understood merely through documents. They have to be understood in real life, in real terms." Speech can be "a from of assault that can and should be banned." Matsuda talks about her history of discrimination as a Japanese American woman, and introduces viewers to people who have been hurt by hate speech. The essay is based on the book of the same title, which she co-authored.

To Be At Liberty - Independent producer Theo Kamecke and Grateful Dead lyricist/cyberspace explorer John Perry Barlow in San Francisco, explore what Barlow hopes will be the free flow of ideas on the electronic superhighway. Barlow asserts that, through the one-way channel of television, "Fear has become the national religion. We no longer trust one another and a people who no longer trust each other cannot exercise liberty." He calls for the creation of international communities through "cyberspace networks" where international, interactive computer networks will be the start of a new revolution "where ideas can spread like wildfire, uncensored by government's Big Brother or a television station's marketing."

Soapbox commentary: independent filmmaker Mitko Panor offers archetypal scenes of America's natural landscape against a traditional musical and discusses our relationship with the world around us withour uttering a single word.