FREE PRESS... IF YOU CAN KEEP IT.

Consumerism and news media are strange bedfellows. On the one hand, without satisfying consumers, news outlets wouldn't have the audience that provides revenue for their continued existence. On the other hand, consumer driven news makes it difficult for news agencies to focus on what Pope John XXIII referred to as "serene objectivity." Instead of getting a mountain of truthful information about public events we tend to get a mound of relatively insignificant factoids.

Thomas Jefferson understood both the productive and destructive nature of the free press. At one point, Jefferson was noted as having said that if were it left to him to decide whether America should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without government, he should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But the optimistic Jefferson quickly became disenchanted with the newspapers. Later in his life he had little good to say about the industry. This can be seen clearly in his letter to Nathaniel Macon in 1819 where he said that "Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied upon in newspapers." The great defender of the first amendment had become a cynic, and advertisements were, ironically, the only thing that sustained his ever dwindling amount of confidence in the free press.

Oh, how things have changed. Advertisements may dominate the media, but their trustworthiness is far from convincing. Worse yet, those who advertise often determine (or limit) the content of coverage a specific media outlet chooses to pursue. How many stories have been smothered due to threat of pulled funding from advertisers whose interests may be impacted by an investigative story? How many boycotts have resulted in a news agency pulling the plug on a story that would have served the public interest? And how many stories have hit the cutting room floor for no other reason than that a person or institution wishes to save face? The list is as unfortunate as it is endless.

The maxim "if it bleeds, it leads" should be replaced by conviction that leading stories are those that are in the best interest of the common good. An educated populace, truly informed about those matters that are imperative to their wellbeing, should be the goal. This should be done at any and all cost, if for no other reason than the integrity of the craft.

To play on a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin, we have a free and independent press, if we can keep it.