As
the fireworks exploded throughout the skies of our great nation this past
Independence Day, every citizen has something to celebrate. But our country is far from perfect, and one
way it can be made stronger is with a truly free press.
Unfortunately, the media is under attack – financially, politically, and
legally.
Fresh
off the murderous rampage upon The
Capital Gazette, a community paper in Maryland that left five dead simply
because some nut didn’t like its media coverage about him, all newspapers are
under other attacks.
The
bombardment comes from powerful interests who try to sue, pressure, or buy
coverage as a means of dictating what the press covers.
There’s
now evidence that Donald Trump controlled editorial coverage at the National Enquirer, killing some stories
while greenlighting others. On a daily
basis he attacks the media, unjustly, as Fake News, while spreading his
self-serving propaganda.
The
president has a history of being hostile towards the press, accusing the media
of “trying to take away our history and our heritage,” without providing any
evidence or sane explanation for such wild claims.
Free
speech is under attack in so many ways.
College campuses try to mute any speech it disagrees with while
businesses punish employees who dare utter anything on social media that doesn’t fit
into how businesses perceive their images.
America
has enjoyed a long battle for freedom of the press, but the Revolution was
built on the brave writings of citizens.
According to the Pulitzer-prize-winning book, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, there were at
least 400 pamphlets in circulation around 1776.
By 1783, the number approached over 1,500.
Don’t
be fooled by today's explosion of communication devices and numerous opportunities to speak out. Sure we can send emails all over the place,
tweet incessantly, or create a website, but all of this comes with
catches. Places like China filter and
censor the flow of information. Huge
American companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter can dictate terms of
service – who gets to post what. The government,
by virtue of technology, easily can track, profile, and monitor everything we
buy, say or do. Meanwhile, newspapers
struggle to overcome declining circulations, decreased ad revenues, and a
shrinking news room left to fill content for fewer pages at fewer papers.
Democracy
needs a strong Fourth Estate.
Now
add in King Trump’s crazy trade war – with allies and enemies alike. He imposed a 30% tariff on Canadian uncoated
paper. For struggling newspapers, this
extra cost can’t easily be passed onto the very readers that they struggle to keep. Paper costs also influence magazines,
pamphleteers, and book publishers. He
can tax journalism and free speech away.
Publisher
Steve Forbes recently told The Wall
Street Journal: “All businesses must
adapt to survive in a free market, and newspapers are no different. While the government has no responsibility to
safeguard newspapers from market forces, it shouldn’t hasten their demise.”
I
live and die with the media.
Professionally, as a book marketer, I need the news media. As a curious-minded writer, I rely on the
media to inform and enlighten me. As a
citizen, I need a strong media to keep powerful interests – government,
business, and foreign entities – in check.
We all should support the news media and champion a press unencumbered
by law, unthreatened by the courts, untaxed by the President – and freed up to
act in our best interests.
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