The President and the Press
In Just a Thought, November 17th, 2009
Should the White House dictate news coverage?
Regardless of your position on the Fox news channel, it would be wise to consider the ramifications of the White House being able to dictate to the press what they can and cannot say in print or electronically.
The first move of any dictatorship is to shut down a free press. From Hitler to Stalin, from Castro to Chavez, every dictator knows that a free press is a threat to their power.
When this administration attempts to shut down Fox news; considers bailing out newspapers (think “own them” as in General Motors) and “regulating” the internet while implementing the “Fairness” doctrine and supporting punitive taxes on free market radio and TV stations to support a government run alternative we need to take notice.
We may not always like the biases we see in our free press, but we must prefer the messiness of unhindered communications to a government managed media.
