This essay was originally delivered as a talk at the Notre Dame Kellogg Institute for International Studies on Tuesday.
The role of a free and independent press in a healthy democracy is under direct attack, with increasingly aggressive efforts to curtail and punish independent journalism. I don’t believe it’s an overstatement to say that this anti-press campaign threatens the special formula that has made the American model so successful for nearly 250 years.
A free people need a free press.
Across the world, we’ve seen democracy in retreat. And for aspiring strongmen seeking to undermine the laws and norms and institutions that underpin a healthy democracy, the free press is usually one of the first targets. It’s no secret why. Once you’ve constrained the ability of journalists to provide independent information to the public about those in power, it becomes far easier to act with impunity.
From its beginning, our nation has recognized journalism as an essential ingredient for democratic self-governance. The founding fathers enshrined this insight in the First Amendment, making the press the only profession explicitly protected in the Constitution. The generations of presidents, lawmakers and Supreme Court justices that followed largely championed and defended press freedoms.
Behind their support was a bipartisan recognition that the press plays a crucial role in our success as a nation. Three roles, actually, each of which also maps precisely to current challenges undermining the nation’s civic health:
● As a historic surge of misinformation erodes our shared reality, the press ensures the flow of trustworthy news and information the public needs to make decisions, whether about elections, the economy or their lives.
● As polarization and tribalism strain our societal bonds, the press fosters the mutual understanding that allows a diverse, divided nation to come together with common purpose.