The press is the only enterprise protected by our constitution. Our nation’s founders knew having a well and accurately informed populous is essential to an efficient democracy. The press influences and sometimes molds the minds of a nation’s populous which then votes based off what they have learned from the press.
The press plays such an important role in a democracy that it can sometimes intimidate and strike fear in the hearts of those in office. Even dating back centuries to the mid 1600’s politicians in office were terrified of the press. The Governor of Virginia in 1660, Sir William Berkeley, actively tried to subdue the press. He is quoted saying, “I thank God, there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels against the best government.” This quote shows the power people have in a democracy over their government. Even in our modern day, we see politicians terrified of forms of the press like WikiLeaks. When we are accurately informed we serve our duty as the “check” against our nation’s leaders.
The press in recent years, in a truly disgusting fashion, has misused their constitutional right to freedom of the press. The press has been shelling out incredibly swayed news on both sides of the political spectrum. Thereby misinforming millions of Americans, dumbing our people down, and souring our image in the eyes of our global allies and more importantly foes. When the general public only has access to laughably swayed and inaccurate news, the consequences are dire. We have seen these consequences in the most recent election.
Donald Trump received about 3 billion dollars of free air time, according to Marketwatch, giving truth to the phrase, “there is no such thing as bad publicity.” All this did was narrow him down from a choice of 16 other candidates, some better than others. The only republican candidate the general populous seemed to be concerned about or remotely informed about was Donald Trump…out of 16 other candidates! Amongst these candidates was a world renowned brain surgeon who is arguably on of the most impressive and most accomplished men in American history. The press blatantly lied about Dr. Ben Carson on many occasions, thereby delegitimizing him in the eyes of Americans. This forfeited any chance of having a legitimate nominee. That is precisely the problem with our press, the general population is not interested in intellectual speech or long detailed solutions to our problems. America wants a 30-second answer with a couple key phrases that appeal to certain demographics, best done by candidates like Clinton and Trump. So if that is what America wants, we are getting what we deserve.
Networks are owned by publicly traded companies like Disney and 21st Century Fox. Since these companies are publicly traded they have a fiduciary duty to return money to shareholders, meaning they gotta make a profit. So, theses companies need to put out the most entertaining material with the highest potential for profit. This is abuse of the right to freedom of speech. With such a powerful tool like the press, carefully informing our populous with fact, not fiction, is IMPERATIVE. It is ridiculous that our press, prisons, and food are all traded on a stock exchange. This makes their services succumb to the profit driven will of their shareholders. These industries, like press and prison, should have a duty to the people they serve, not shareholders; the results are disastrous and disgusting!
Our nation is in dire need of accurate non-biased news coming straight from the source, without being passed through boardrooms or executives. This role is being filled by media companies like VICE who go in first hand to conflict areas and present well-balanced articles. Here is an interesting point of how much accurate news is worth. The first level of news is free, consisting of blogs, television, etc. like FOX and CNN, this is where most get their news from. For the next level, the consumer has to pay a little extra for sources like the Wall Street Journal or New York Times, two reputable news sources. Then the third level of news are services that are found on Bloomberg Terminals. These are ultra powerful computers that are found mainly in university business schools, hedge funds, etc. Along with providing access to any type of financial data imagined, Bloomberg Terminals offer a 24/7 non-biased, factual, streaming news source about any topic going on around the globe. The writers of these pieces can be contacted by the reader for any questions and they are concise and factual. The price for a Bloomberg terminal is close to $23,000 per year. Let that sink in. That is not to say the entirety of the Bloomberg terminal’s $23,000 per year value goes towards news, but it is substantial nonetheless.
Our country deserves to be better informed. The end goal of this article to emphasize the importance of being an informed citizen. Relying on sources of news that are profit driven is counterproductive to a democracy. Taking advantage of the abundant factual and historical literature published by our nations' brightest in the Ivy league and beyond is incredibly important. Without reading the paper every day from a source like the Times or the WSJ it is tough for a populous to make informed decisions.
