Today I’m going to be looking at the purpose of the media, as stated by the Constitution of the United States of America. You know, the 5th amendment and the freedom of press rights that came in the Bill of Rights was given for a distinct purpose. We have to remember that the Bill of Rights was added by our Founding Father as a means of limiting government, and placing the power back in the people’s hands via checks and balances (hence the second amendment is not a hunting right).
So what was the purpose of the media then? What did Thomas Jefferson say about media coverage. Let’s look at a quote by him.
The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. Thomas Jefferson 1787
That is beautifully well stated, “I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter”, the latter being no government at all, rather than a government with no media coverage.
The problem we see in America, and even Orson Scott Card has come out and said this here, is the media is no longer covering news topics and issues as it is supposed to be. That is to inform and protect the people. It is now shaping minds for the most part. God help us if government ever gets control of the media. But I can’t say it’s the media’s fault, rather the people behind the media. We need a media that is looking out for the people, and not their own interests. For the most part, despite the flack that they take, Fox does stay “fair and balanced”. God bless.
Posted by Lance 
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