Jefferson and Lippmann Free Press Advocates

"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." -- Thomas Jefferson



"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

"There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and to shame the devil." -- Walter Lippmann

I believe what Jefferson was saying in these quotes is that to remain free independent thinkers we rely on the press to gather and accurately present information relating to government and world issues so that we can make informed decisions on how we want to be governed. This is true today regardless of the media platform. The press must systematically gather and check information before releasing it and informing public opinion. Without freedom of the press we are left with propaganda and dictatorship a far cry from the freedoms we are privileged to.

Lippmann was a prolific voice in journalism purveying the truth above all else, even to the later detriment of his journalism career. He believed in skepticism of fact, in trustworthy and relevant information to be delivered to the people to form their own beliefs through fair unbiased media. This is relevant today, however the advent of mass media and citizen journalism translates to a constant stream of media that quite often does not go through the analysis and review necessary to ensure its reliability, resulting in muddied information that at times can be the devil in the details. We are at a crossroads in journalism as we sift through information from a multitude of outlets to determine what is true as opposed to what is allegedly true in order to be accountable to the people and empower truth, democracy and equality. Although there is excessive exploitation in a multitude of forms in the media, I believe there are many more stories from people that through their journalistic endeavors take great care in how they impact public opinion, as did Lippmann. Public opinion should not be based on propaganda ideas, the devil Lippmann spoke of in addition to calling out the wrong doings of those in higher places of society and government.