“Congress shall make no law …abridging the freedom …of the press.” I cut out this clip from the First Amendment to the Constitution of The United States.  Not because freedom of and from religion as well as free speech are unimportant. They certainly are. Rather, I want to discuss the importance to our nation of an independent, vigorous, and responsible press.

Broadly speaking, the press includes newspapers, magazines, television, movies, radio, internet forms such as websites and blogs, pamphlets and books.  The press is considered free when the state does not control or interfere with content.

Our nation’s press is in the midst of a tectonic media shift. Especially hard hit are those that focus on news and investigative journalism. Scores of long-established newspapers and news magazines are folding, while many of those remaining are downsizing their news bureaus. Television networks, too, are cutting back their news programming budgets.

The trend is ominous. Rising generations are much less likely to access news from newspapers or standard television network news programs. Instead they rely heavily upon free internet sources. This begs the question, where do these internet news sources get their primary data? The answer, unsurprisingly, is the traditional news bureaus. And note, these bureaus are being cut back due to financial limitations. 

After all, if newspaper and news magazines have fewer subscriptions, then both subscription and advertising revenue will decline. Budget cuts necessarily follow.

The internet itself is facing powerful lobbying by telephone and cable interests seeking to end neutrality of the web. In other words, to privatize the internet so that they can determine what web services come through and what ones do not.  The freedom to post a website and have it read would not be free (not be free of cost, that is, and maybe not free expression of content).

Media consolidation is a trend in which major media outlets become owned by a proportionately smaller number of corporations. Disney, Viacom, TimeWarner, News Corporation and General Electric through their subsidiaries in sum own more than 90% of media holdings in the United States. A wide spectrum of checks and balances necessary for a vigorous democracy can be compromised when media giants prioritize profit-driven news.

In their book, The Death and Life of American Journalism, Robert McChesney and John Nichols recommend a government subsidy for independent, nonprofit, non-commercial media to keep well-researched journalism thriving for the sake of democracy. They point to other nations, democracies,  that do subsidize. The authors counter the argument that government will meddle by saying that otherwise our news is evolving into “a nexus of corporate power and government power, where corporations are driving it.”

I am thankful for The Pocahontas Times. Our local county newspaper is not run by absentee owners who dictate the content. Rather, we can readily call or stop by to talk with the owners. The paper cares about our community, indeed rises and falls with the rest of us. People can submit news items or letters on issues. Our community radio station, WVMR, likewise involves the community in local issues and news. Both these entities hold a serious commitment to accurate and balanced news investigation and reporting.

I am also thankful for our libraries. I’m not just saying this because it’s my job. Strong libraries, too, hold an important place in providing public access to information.

We need to support our local news and information outlets. They provide us with news, analysis and a platform to express our concerns and opinions. They perform a valuable function for us to forge a thriving, healthy democracy.