Freedom through the Press

So, what do we do? Thomas Jefferson, too, wondered about the free media: 'I deplore, the putrid state into which the press has passed, and the vulgar spirit of those who write them.' Could we not put strong government controls on the media to reduce such vulgarity? In answer, Thomas Jefferson gives us another more simple truth: 'Our Liberty depends on freedom of the press, that cannot be limited without being lost.' Disturbing elements will never entirely disappear from the media-nor should they-but we must continue to speak out against the wrong, and advocate the good. Also, the press prints what people read. We cannot simply tell the media we think this isn't right, we must show them through what we read. And in the future we may even have a chance to enjoy a media as fundamentally decent as the people who live in this great country.…