President vs. press.

• Author: Nelson, Sophia A.
• Position: Political Landscape

Pres. Donald Trump does not like--nor I think completely understand--the concept of a free press. Our Founding Fathers believed--rightly so--that a free press was critical to the survival of our republic. They believed it so important that they put it in the First Amendment of the Constitution. That free press was instituted by our Founders to be watchdogs--to probe and to inform the people of the goings on of government. The Founders were firm in this right. They held it among the first set of rights, along with free speech, the right to bear arms, and free exercise of religion.

A free press is essential to our liberties, and it always must be guarded, protected, and honored by "we the people" as well as the those we elect. The First Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

It was wise of our Founders to have placed up front in our Constitution's Amendments the importance of a free press, and a citizen-based media (in addition to the traditional news outlets, we now have bloggers and social-media exchanges), which would keep a close eye on the Federal government.

Be clear that this is exactly what the Founders intended, as Supreme Court Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas explained in their concurring opinion in New York Times Co. v. United States (1971): "In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people."

Our Founders understood power because they had been oppressed by the great power of their time, and they took great pains to ensure in our founding documents that the people forever would be free if we followed their wisdom and instruction. There is no better example of the power and importance of a free press preserving democracy in the history of our nation than in the 1972 Watergate scandal.

"A reporter's ability to keep the bond of confidentiality often enables him to learn the hidden or secret aspects of government,"...