The press is not the enemy

Freedom is not always an easy thing. One of its most unfortunate side effects is having to endure points of view with which we are neither in agreement nor respect.

The founding fathers seemed to recognize that, and that is why, after finishing with the American Constitution, this thing is really not over. We need to make some changes! The first amendment is the First Amendment, which establishes freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

On this 242nd celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which ultimately leads to the formation of the best country that this old world has ever seen, it's a good time to devote a thought to these concepts and what they mean in 2018.

Mass shooting at The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, should tragically remind us that working in the First Amendment framework is not a safe business. By doing the necessary work to provide their community with a newspaper – an institution that the founders so much believed in the freedom that they explicitly protected in the First Amendment – five people lost their lives.

Admittedly, this attack does not seem to have They were motivated by a particular political creed or made a broader statement about the discontent of the press, but it was still about journalists doing their job and doing seemingly lower the anger of a madman. If the story of the shooter's discontent with having been the subject of a story in the Gazette is true, these people have indeed lost their lives in the service of journalism and ultimately of freedom of expression.

they forget the basic necessity of what journalists do. Last week, commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, quoted in the New York Observer, said: "I can not wait for teams of vigilantes to start shooting down journalists on sight." His timing was almost perfect.

Yiannopoulos is a right winger who subscribes to the idea that the "liberal media" are at the root of the problems that President Donald Trump faces and therefore deserve to be shot. At sight. I'm sure there are people who think that Yiannopoulos deserves to be shot on sight for some of the things that it says, but note here that killing someone because you do not He does not like what he says or writes is not going to help bridge the ideological divide that is currently tearing this country apart.

I readily admit that there have been very bad reports about President Trump. There are people who go on TV and say strange things about it every day because they do not like it. But the power in this type of "journalism" comes directly from people who have decided to consume only the media that correspond politically to them.

If the fact of being impartial and neutral about the issues was rewarded with higher television ratings, discussions "after each story would go away." Unfortunately, with respect to the national media, the American public apparently gave up the desire for fair and balanced information in favor of partisanship disguised as journalism.

President Trump called the media "enemies of the American people" because he is frustrated by the daily torrent of critical stories and commentaries, whether they are right or "wrong." Like any good politician, Trump never admits wrongdoings and always blames journalists or the media for stories This is not a new piece, Trump is just a lot better than the average politico of getting people to listen to his moans.

But think of the reality of saying something like me the media is the enemy of the American people. Does he believe that the media should be abolished? What would the United States be without journalists?

Does President Trump even acknowledge that it was the dreaded "liberal media" that exposed Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server to process classified information? put it in the office? Do those who subscribe to the notion of the press as an enemy of the people realize how much they know about Washington's corruption has been discovered by mainstream media?

Thomas Jefferson is well known for his support of a free press and the recognition that it is essential for a free country. In private, he gritted his teeth, which the rags of the time tore up and printed stories that could not be believed. Yet, he wrote: "The only security of all is in a free press."

I'm not trying to blow up Trump, because I understand his frustration with some reports that occur, but calling the press the enemy of the American people ignores the hundreds of years of reporting that have helped keep this country free.Just think about it locally.What would we do as a community if we could not not get information on the possibility of moving the airport or investing public funds in the new football stadium? How would Fairhope people know the details of efforts to eventually change their entire form of city ​​government?

Without a free press, the Luv Guv could still be there groping, and the citizens would know nothing of the shenanigans The President of the House, Mike Hubbard, convicted Facebook and Instagram are great for showing your friends the nice sandwich you had for lunch, but barely a replacement for a well-researched report.

At a time when the politicians who run this country have accumulated a debt of $ 21 trillion and committed themselves It is odd to think that the free press would be considered the enemy of the people. Americans who are dissatisfied with the media have to turn off the television and spend 10 minutes finding the many well-written and documented stories published by reputable news organizations that are readily available to those who want the news without turning.

On this fourth, celebrate this great country, appreciate our uniqueness and realize that despite our differences of opinion, this has been a particularly successful venture over the last 242 years. And say a prayer for those five people who lost their lives in Maryland last week by playing their part in keeping this country beautiful.