How America gave up press freedom and nobody noticed

The media is the people’s primary means of keeping informed. Many believe that press freedom exists if the media is free of governmental control and that pluralism prevails. That view misses the main point. A good share of the media has to be free to serve the people.”

William Dunkerley, media business analyst, international development and change strategist, and author

Did you notice that we’ve lost the freedom of the press, which is essential to our democracy? If you’re like many people, probably not.

Do you believe that a free press is a Constitutional guarantee? Most people likely think it is indeed guaranteed. Actually, it is not.

Here’s the real story as I see it:

“Freedom of the press is an implicit and essential right of the people. It is not just freedom of speech for journalists. If a democracy is going to work, citizens must make informed political choices. The media is the people’s primary means of keeping informed. Many believe that press freedom exists if the media is free of governmental control and that pluralism prevails. That view misses the main point. A good share of the media has to be free to serve the people.”

Those were my opening comments when the World Association of Newspapers invited me to deliver the keynote address at the Press Freedom Forum of its 2006 World Congress.

Separately, a published U.S. Agency for International Development report makes another vital point: The press “serves a ‘checking function’ by ensuring that elected representatives uphold their oaths of office and carry out the wishes of those who elected them.” Often, this is called being a “watchdog.”

Now, here in 2024, much of our news coverage is devoid of those fundamental principles. Tune in to CNN or MSNBC, and you’ll hear people serving their audiences with bias and persuasion, forthrightly favoring their preferred political candidates. Switch to Fox News, and you’ll hear the same thing, but with an opposite political twist.

These biased or dishonest news services are not violating any law. They are free to do what they’re doing. However, in those cases, voters are not being served consistently honest, unbiased information on which to base reasonable choices of leaders or to detect failures in existing leadership. Real news seeks to report, not persuade.

Network news has a bias, too. But it is less consistent than cable news and not as intense. Nonetheless, it is still not a consistently reliable source of honest news.

As to a constitutionally guaranteed free press? Many believe we have that guarantee. For example, a free speech center at an American university states flatly, “Freedom of the press is a Constitutional guarantee contained in the First Amendment, which in turn is part of the Bill of Rights.” That might be a good fundraising line for the university. But it’s not true.

The Constitution prevents Congress from enacting laws that would “abridge” the “freedom of the press.” The honest, unbiased reporting that we need as citizens is not guaranteed. Instead, that is left to the media marketplace. And the market does not give preference to honest reportage.

In our economic marketplace, people choose the best of almost everything — cars, restaurants, entertainment options. They decide what’s best for them. Their discriminating tastes allow for the products and services that serve them best to prevail. For some reason, that does not work regarding media choices. Why not?

Americans don’t think a free press is unimportant. A recent Pew Research report found that “most Americans say press freedom is important to society.” The study found that 73% of U.S. adults admit that it is very or extremely important, while only 8% find it not at all important.

However, recognizing the value of press freedom does not translate into voter selection of news sources that allow them to be smart, informed voters. Why not?

One explanation is something called “confirmation bias.” Psychology Today defines it as a “tendency to seek out and interpret information in a way that confirms our preexisting beliefs or opinions.” PositivePsychology.com views it as “seeing what we want to believe.” Our partisan news outlets do a good job of enabling that.

But why does confirmation bias exist and thrive?

Britannica.com suggests: “People like to feel good about themselves, and discovering that a belief that they highly value is incorrect makes them feel bad about themselves. Therefore, people will seek information that supports their existing beliefs.” It matters not whether the beliefs are based on fact, misunderstanding or misplaced faith in an unreliable source.

I see now that voters are engaged in a gluttony of confirmation bias. This bias attracts viewers or readers, thus bringing advertising money to the media outlets serving it. It also leads political candidates to pander to biases.

We now see the result daily: Opposing candidates call each other childish schoolyard names. Often, they seem more intent on running highly emotional negative campaigns against their opponents than on explaining what they can realistically contribute to voters’ lives and our country’s success.

They often invoke impractical promises that might sound good to an uncritical mind. But it’s all just a form of tricksterism.

So why are media outlets trafficking in confirmation bias instead of factually reporting the news?

The fact that they do that and that it goes relatively unnoticed adds to the loss of press freedom I’m talking about. We generally don't have media outlets that are apparently free to tell the truth, and the resulting absence of truth impairs our ability to make objectively wise choices about leaders.

Are the media companies just responding to consumer demand for the self-gratification they get from confirmation bias?

Are political bosses somehow manipulating the media?

Or, as some suspect, is media ownership by large corporations to blame? Those companies have business interests other than the news business. Are they bargaining away politically biased coverage to gain or maintain the favor of lawmakers or financiers?

The answers to those questions are beyond the scope of this article, but they are worth considering.

The bottom line is that the media is an abject failure in terms of our democracy's functioning. They do not even merit the people’s trust.

During the 1960s and 1970s, CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite was widely considered “The Most Trusted Man in America.” Today, in 2024, according to the market research firm YouGov, CBS News holds the trust of only 15% of the people.

What is today the “most trusted” news source for Americans? The YouGov answer is The Weather Channel.

That’s great for deciding whether to take an umbrella with us in the morning, but it’s not helpful when we need to make wise political choices.

William Dunkerley is a media business analyst, international development and change strategist, and author of numerous books, monographs and articles. He has been an editor and publisher of media industry information and has additional expertise in post-communist media business and content.