At the birth of our nation, the historical figures we call our founding fathers fought to achieve the concept of liberty and create a country that upholds that concept within each citizen. This nation is the product of a great development of human ideals; it is the culmination of the tradition and history of art, customs, philosophy and political ideas. One such idea that is vital to liberty is a system of free and independent news media. This principle is preserved in the constitution, and it is preserved everyday in the practice of our rights. The country was founded on the notion that it would become a melting pot for those seeking opportunity and prosperity. That search has enveloped hundreds of years of human rights’ activism, with free speech and free news media at its core.
The concept of free communications expands beyond a fear of a private, monopolized media. It goes beyond a dread of governmental control that eliminates the idea of independence. Free and Independent news media are important because they are a vital component to free society. When a private entity has complete influence over the media, there is no outlet for individual ideas, and that key individualism that makes up a successful society is suppressed. When a government controls its nation’s media, the citizens are stripped of their voice and are subject to the total power of a few individuals. Free media has become the aptly named watchdog of elected officials and public persons. In this way free media plays its role in democracy as a component to our checks and balances. It is the direct voice of the people, and one of the most essential ligaments connecting citizens to their government.
In American society, our culture and success as a people has always revolved around our freedom of speech and press. Modern interpretation of those rights span from chat rooms and message boards to the current trend of web logs and even video web logs. With the advancement of the internet has come the advancement of communications; global connectivity is a basic concept of modern media. Everyone is a spokesperson, everyone has an opinion, and the circulation and reception of those opinions is instantaneous. Every citizen is now a broadcaster, each is a critic, and the people have now assumed the journalist’s role. In this way free media and freedom of expression has taken on an ultimate form in modern society with an infinite ways to exercise that constitutional right. Whether or not the people’s manipulation is ultimately beneficial, it is a testament to our nation’s early existence when our founding fathers fought so relentlessly for those rights.