By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JULY 2, 2021 | Here on the eve of Independence Day, the Fourth Estate may be losing a battle that cannot help our American system of government. Unless it can be turned around, this battle will be adding to the woes, and may doom, our way of life in the United States of America.
When our country started back in 1776, few media sites existed. The legislative, courts and executive branches operated with little oversight. There was no major national media that had an influence that media would have in coming years.
News in olden days usually traveled by word of mouth, and traveled very slowly. Our government operated pretty much in a vacuum. It wasn’t until 1838 that the telegraph was developed to send news quickly over wires. Even when the Civil War ended in 1865, we have noted recently that the people in Texas didn’t know anything about it until two months later. This led to what we now celebrate as Juneteenth Day.
From the 1820s, the penny press developed, delivered from high-speed presses, which could print thousands of newspapers cheaply. This eventually became a standard in large cities. By the turn of the century, newspapers flourished, with many practicing serious, objective journalism, and keeping a check on government.
In the 1920s era, the first commercial radio stations began, with a majority of U.S. households having a radio by 1931. Its stepchild, television (radio with a picture), was first broadcast in 1928, but did not gain ready acceptance until the 1950s.
The next major development in information was the internet, which since the mid-1990 has had a revolutionary impact on all the world.
Especially since World War II, people everywhere have been increasingly overwhelmed by the media. And a key part of what the media has done is alert its citizens to the operations of government. Nationwide, newspapers and commercial networks have readily kept an eye on the federal government, in the same manner that local weekly and local daily newspapers reported on lower levels of government.
These media made democracy something tangible. Often the subject of government was a big item, like proposed changes in health policy or Social Security. Or it could be a weekly newspaper telling its readers that a new $1 a month city garbage fee was being discussed. In these many ways, the citizens were being kept informed about their governments.
The people responded by voting. Not liking what the media reported about their government, the people changed their representatives. Approving of what their leaders were doing, the people voted them back into office.
But today, social media has changed all this, with people having less information, or questionable facts. The internet has drastically eroded advertising of newspapers and television, resulting in a cut in professional media staff levels, with fewer significant news stories reported. Many smaller communities have lost their local newspaper, and their radio station has no significant news reporting
The result is that people are taking what they see on social media as facts. It often is not factual, nor is it objective reporting.
It’s to the point that people can choose which prejudiced source they want to listen to or read, so as to reinforce their understanding. It divides our nation into camps of competing informational camps.
It all adds up that our government is watchdogged less by objective energies. It splits our people. It hurts our democracy. And it may doom us.
The Fourth Estate seems to be in a losing battle. When will it end? It may never.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Follow Us