After requests from the Bush administration urging caution and restraint when deciding whether to air broadcasts from Al-Jazeera, the Arab television network, major American media outlets have decided to edit footage before airing.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice expressed concern that footage of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization, may contain hidden messages that could put American civilians’ lives at risk, thus compromising national security.

This self-censorship goes against the American principles of a free press. The news media should never be influenced by the government when deciding what is and isn’t worthy of being broadcast.

The news media’s role is to inform the American public of the news, plain and simple. They are the impartial watchdogs who tell it like it is, not the way the government wants the public to hear it.

When you involve the government in this process, the ideals of the First Amendment vanish. It’s the reason we have that First Amendment to begin with.

There is no concrete evidence – in fact no evidence at all – that these hidden messages are present in the footage, and to heed to governmental pressure solely on a whim is not responsible journalism. It appears to be nothing more than an attempt by the American government to stop the public from viewing complete news coverage.

These broadcasts are about the only footage the Western world has of our newfound enemy, who is living in a country that doesn’t allow the freedom of press America takes for granted on a daily basis.

Whether we like it or not that enemy is out there, and it is the responsibility of the American media to broadcast that point of view.

And censoring this footage will not prevent it from being seen, heard or read here in the United States.

Canadian and British networks, as well as the rest of the world’s media, is showing such footage, and a quick glance on the Internet and the censored material is at one’s fingertips.

The decision to bow to governmental pressure was a wrong one. Major media outlets should never find themselves altering broadcasts because officials think it’s in the best interest of the nation.

That’s not their job.

editorialboard: Andrea Hauser, Tim Paluch, Michelle Kann, Zach Calef, Omar Tesdell