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I start thinking about this essay by asking myself, DOES a democracy need journalism, and DOES a democracy need the 1st Amendment? My answers to both were: yes, of course. The easiest of the two to answer for me was, does a democracy need the 1st Amendment? I believe that without our 1st Amendment to the constitution our democracy would have failed soon after it's inception. The 1st Amendment allows citizens to fully function under their own will, and to define "functioning" for themselves. My interpretation is that the 1st Amendment set American democracy up to last, in that it allows for unhappiness, disdain, and overall frustration with government and doesn't simply force citizens to sit aside idly while they are governed.
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Journalism is also overtly necessary for a functioning democracy. Journalism is the watchdog of a democracy, or any other form of government. Because Journalism is its own industry and is separate from the government it is able to have a more over-arching view of the government and thus can inform citizens of happenings. Without Journalism, we citizens would be entirely uninformed of our government and of the news surrounding it and the rest of our nation and world. Staying informed is IMPORTANT! and it is the key to participating in our democracy.
Why does a democracy need journalism and the 1st Amendment: because the citizens of the democracy need to be informed and because they need to have fundamental rights allowing them to control their lives.
I agree. Journalism's biggest job today seems to be keeping an eye on our politicians. Also, if it weren't for journalism, people wouldn't be aware of some of the things that cause "unhappiness, disdain and overall frustration," and would have less to complain about on my blog.
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