The Fourth Branch

It could never be set up as an actual branch because that would nullify the effectiveness of the Fourth Branch of Government, and that is,a free press. 

I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.  Thomas Jefferson

While Jefferson didn’t care much for newspapers, he, along with the other founders knew that a free press would serve the nation well, keeping them informed and maybe even more to the point they would serve to keep politicians honest.  That is why the first amendment was so important to them, they were afraid of censorship and the possibility of the government working behind closed doors without a few ‘gad flies’ to help keep things open.

Where have the journalists gone?  It seems as though they have disappeared from the scene; but have they?  There are but a handful of journalists on television anymore; and most, if not all are on Fox News.  But the real fourth branch is right here.  The internet.

This is the place where everything comes together these days.  The danger is that anyone can put anything out there and call it news.  Mostly, it is opinion, like this, but the news is out there even though the days of flipping on the evening news to get your information are over.  Always try to keep an open mind and ask yourself as you surf if the source you are looking at is:

1. Current.  Things on the internet don’t tend to go away, and it is just about as easy to get an article from several years ago as it is several hours ago.
2. Honest.  Try to get an idea of what agenda is being foisted upon you when you surf.  Just because a site is typically left leaning or right leaning doesn’t mean that the information is bad, but you do want to know if the writer has an agenda.
3. Relevant.  There are a multitude of diversions on the web.  There are conspiracy theories, and funny cats everywhere and it is easy to be distracted and lose sight of what you are searching for.

Do some research, find some aggregate sites you trust to give you a balanced picture of the events of the day and bookmark those.  But don’t stop looking, repost those items that appear relevant onto social networks in order to let others know about them.

All in all, there is a lot more information available to us than there was even 10 years ago, We just need to keep our eyes open when we browse and not take everything at face value.

But, that’s just My Arrogant Opinion

Tagged as: First Amendment, Main Stream Media, Newspapers, Television News, Thomas Jefferson