Question

Thomas Jefferson once remarked, “The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” What role does Jefferson believe the media should play in a democratic society? What role do you think the media should play in a democratic society? How do the media in the United States live up to the standards you outline?

Answer 1

The media is generally referred to as' Fourth Estate or fourth power' due to its immense role it can play within a nation in terms of making people aware about their rights, good governance, transparency and curbing of corruption. These days the media is becoming more corrupt where the parties in power pay them good perks and benefits and direct them to be their talking parrots. The media can be seen at every nook and corner depicting the wrongs of the government as right and their falsehood a truth. The more they are paid the more the propaganda they will use to gain vote banks. The media especially newspapers are meant to make public aware of their rights, duties, their representatives, their welfare and much more. The media deceives them through their wrong descriptions in favor of the government. The media should not be biased instead they should play a key role with honesty and should control the rulers from turning into the wolves who are bloodthirsty, money and power hungry etc. The media being the sole medium to wake up the people from their slumber .they have a greater role in a democratic setup where they can mobilize the people against the oppressors, wicked and criminal people who often find a way to the corridors of power. The democratic system is meant for the people and by the people, unfortunately, the same public is often betrayed by their rights.The media should shed it's corrupt kind of approach instead in every region of the world they should generate environs of awareness among the masses so that only those who have a concern for the humanity will come into the power, by doing so peace will be restored into the world. The media in the United States compared to other nations is good, not better because there also the media is heavily paid who had also from last few years talking from the mouth of those who are in power. The media has given rise to warlike situations in every part of the world instead of curbing the violence they had been escalating the same and USA is not prone to this dark side of the media.