An assault on the free press is an assault on a free America.
In the days after the Revolution, our Founding Fathers understood human nature and how precious and fragile liberty is. That's why the First Amendment, including its guarantee of freedom of the press, merited the No. 1 position when the founders added the Bill of Rights to the new Constitution.
For a representative democracy to thrive while safeguarding individual liberties, it is essential that the people know what's going on in the government they elect.
Hardly had the ink dried before politicians started looking for ways to control the messages that reach the public and to suppress journalists who asked inconvenient questions. That's human nature, especially the nature of ambitious people who reach positions of power.
Press freedom has seen dark days before. We all know about President Richard Nixon and his attempts to use government agencies against perceived media "enemies." Woodrow Wilson, in his determination to save democracy during World War I, threatened one of its pillars through widespread suppression of the press. The list goes on, even to Barack Obama, who has been criticized for undermining reporters' rights to protect their sources as he fought to stop leaks.
Fortunately, the checks and balances of our system usually prevail.
Now _ with a president who is waging a reckless campaign to brand journalists as "enemies of the people" and discredit as "fake news" anything that doesn't make him look good _ is another of those times when we need to remember how important freedom of the press really is. Donald Trump's attacks on the press take decades-long efforts to blame "the media" for a host of problems to an ugly new level.
A recent Ipsos poll found that almost a third of Americans _ 29 percent _ agree with the notion that "the news media is the enemy of the American people."
The poll found that when asked broad questions, large majorities agree, for example, that "Freedom of the press is essential for American democracy" and "reporters should be protected from pressure from government or big business interests."
But when the questions get more specific, the answers are more troubling.
The stark partisan split in responses is telling. Almost half _ 48 percent _ of Republicans agree with Trump's assertion that "the news media is the enemy of the American people."
Alarmingly, 43 percent of Republicans think the president should be able "to shut down news outlets engaged in bad behavior."
That's human nature again. It's folly to value our freedoms only when they suit us. Essential liberties should not be sacrificed for expediency.
For free speech to endure, we must protect the rights of people who say things we find abhorrent. If freedom of religion means anything, it must also protect the rights of those in minority religions or with no religion.
And for a free press to continue working to keep our government open and responsive, we must allow journalists to function even when they are scrutinizing and criticizing those we favor.
Did those who now think the press is the enemy feel that way when news reports repeated false claims about Obama's birthplace, or during all the media attention to Hillary Clinton's emails? Would they be as willing to let the president shut down news outlets if those determining what is "bad behavior" were Democrats?
It's often said that one of the first actions of a would-be dictator is to suppress the free press. Safeguarding the liberties that make our country great is not easy. It requires defending those liberties despite the vagaries of politics.
Freedom of the press, like our other essential liberties, is more important than any individual or party. Ultimately, it protects us all.
