Reason & Concern

by Ronquillo C. Tolentino

The Freedom Of The Press: A Brief Revisit

Thomas Caryle, in his book On Heroes and Hero Worship attributed to Edmund Burke, the English orator and statesman, to be the source of the term Fourth Estate. When Caryle wrote that, Burke in 1787 said, "there were Three Estates in the Parliament, but in the Reporter’s Gallery yonder, there set a fourth estate more important than they all."　 The three estates of the Parliament were the Lords Spiritual (clergy and church), the Lords Temporal (the nobility), the Commons (comprised everyone else).　 The three estates were formed to become advisors and counselors to the monarch, which can well be forerunners to the modern congress and parliament.

The　United States President Barrack Obama, in a White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on May 9, 2009 said : "A government without newspapers, a government without a tough and vibrant media of all sorts is not an option for the United States of America."

Several centuries before the Obama statement on the importance of the press is the declaration of the English poet, John Milton (1608-74). He　said, "people should have unlimited access to the ideas and thoughts of others in order to exercise their talent and reasoning between right and wrong".　Milton also asserted that truth has a unique power of survival when allowed to assert itself freely and openly when he said: "Let all with something to say be free to express themselves. The true and sound will survive. The false and the unsound will be vanquished. Government should keep out of the battle and not weight to odds in favor of one side or the other."
　

Thomas Jefferson, other than his much quoted preference of a press without a government also posited that any government which cannot stand up to published criticism deserves to fall."

In John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty (1869) which is considered the most eloquent expression of the right to free press is his philosophy, thus: "If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person was of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person that he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.　 The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it robs the human race, posterity as well as the existing generation.　 If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity to exchange error for truth;　 if wrong, they lose what is almost as great a benefit – the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."

I remember former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice who stated that "without a free and active press, the people could not be certain that their views would be known to their leaders and that their leaders’ views would be known to them".

An article from the April 2007 Edward R. Morrow Journalism program reads : "Free press is the ultimate necessity of the day. Without free press, democracy cannot function properly. In fact it is not wrong to say that free press ensures democracy because it keeps a check on the people in power". A French philosopher once said that, "a free press has its merits and demerits. However, without the freedom of press we can only expect bad things."

"Free press strengthens the foundation of nation. It also helps the common man by highlighting the basic problems and hence encourages overall progress. We cannot neglect the role of the press in educating the masses. Access to information is the basic right of people and press plays a vital role, in keeping the people informed of the current situation. The role of the press is not simply limited to reporting; instead press has a role in opinion making.

"However this role requires responsible behavior. Journalists should remain neutral and must not be biased in any case. Although it seems difficult but they are for more responsible so they have access to the masses and have the power to transform the reality. They should not be in any type of defamation. Freedom of expression is the basic right of the people however there must be some limits.　

"However, free press does not mean that they can propagate anything whether good or bad."

Finally, even as it is admitted that the media is dedicated to the pursuit of truth, let us remind ourselves in the media profession that quoted advice in some media lectures Oliver Cromwell had to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1650: "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken." /MP