Democracy

The words, threat to democracy are thrown around rather loosely these days but one possible threat that is rarely if ever discussed is the close cooperation of the press with the democratic party. Part of the first amendment is freedom of the press. Freedom of the press is the right to report news without being censored by the government. Founders spoke glowingly about the press as a pillar of democracy and guarantor of liberty. They were concerned about the government having too much power much like the King from whom they has just revolted. A fictional character in the late 19th century said, “The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” The press is always taken over when dictators come into power as they know that the pen is mightier than the sword. When the press whose job is to expose government abuse becomes friendly with the government, democracy is threatened.