by Frances Taylor

Created on: July 19, 2008

A free press is essential to a democracy. Without a free and actively functioning press, the public is hard-pressed to be fully informed in the way that is required of an American citizen. This is why the press is the only profession specifically mentioned in the Constitution and protected by an amendment.

Unfortunately, media conglomerates are the owners and care-takers of the press, and as an industry, their duty is not to the first Amendment, or even the public's right to know. It's to their share-holders, and to the bottom line. In many ways, this has produced conflict of purpose in the U.S. media.

This conflict can be easily seen by consumers of the media; too much news about celebrities, not enough in-depth reporting on the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, the disappearance of local news from local newspapers. Owners of media conglomerates treat the newspapers, television and radio stations they own as their private business to do with as they will according to board room and bottom-line concerns.

The free and functioning press required by democracy and Constitution is a public trust that is being violated by these conglomerates. Despite the public's continuing dis-satisfaction with what they either see or don't see in their local and/or nation media, these media corporations do not view themselves as accountable to the public or the journalists and others that they employ.

This abandonment of the basic duties of the press by its owners is accompanied by a high price. Thousands of jobs are being cut from the industry, leaving few people whose job it is to keep an eye or state or local officials, monitor the impact that government policies have on real people, or just keep us informed about what are fellow citizens in the next city or town might be facing.
Maintaining a staff of journalists who are experts on sectors of society or the economy or overseas is expensive. Its much easier and cheaper to run the same wire that appears in every other newspaper or local news program. And if you're missing something, so what? If the public doesn't know about it, they can't miss it. At least thats what these owners seem to believe.

But the people are aware that something is missing. And as these conglomerates cut jobs and shrink the size and influence their news organization have, their sales continue to plummet, forcing even well-known and once stable news organizations into a death spiral.

The bottom line is, the media's obligation to the public is greater than its own bottom line.

Learn more about this author, Frances Taylor.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.