A Free Press could destroy itself, and us, along with it
Probably, but note the element of doubt. I use the term "Press" or "Free Press" to encompass all forms of media and information services now present in the modern age - not just the classic newspaper. The Press came from a Noble background of high principle and fighting good causes, every Democratic Country has its stories of journalistic daring do fighting evil and corruption, even to the extent that it can be fairly argued that Democracy as we know it would not exist without a Free Press, let alone continue to exist. The other side of the argument in this undeniably almost saintly outcome, is increasing distortion of the "Story". The latter is motivated by many things, to suit the supported Political Agenda, to satisfy the voracious needs of owners and shareholders be they for personal reputation and power or circulation figures, to satisfy advertising and revenue needs; to name but a few.
The clash of Principles and Practice within the Press is of course not a new one, but it has increasingly come to notice as modern communications media are developed and deployed in a way never dreamed of in the 19th Century. Even after World War Two, the Press had not changed a lot; for sure Radio had taken hold, Cinema newsreels were the norm, and TV was in its infancy. The iconic image of the knurled streetwise reporter, with one inch wide trouser braces over a sweaty shirt, pencil over his right ear still prevailed even then. "Hold the front page" they yelled, amidst overflowing ashtrays in smoke filled newsrooms, with opened half bottle's of early morning Jack Daniels, and peanut butter layered hamburgers on early morning desks (enough to send today’s cosseted health extremists into an eye popping, heart dissolving, sinew snapping siezesure).
The Press had always been used and manipulated where possible by an increasing number of Politicians, vested interests, power seekers and intellectuals during the 18th and 19th Centuries (no doubt there is some hieroglyphic on some dusty Egyptian tomb or pre-historic cave showing earlier Press activities, but lets keep it in the bounds of modern reality). The general Public however were, as a generalisation, not really aware of the depth and nature of such pressures on "The Free Press", a few stories of reporter daring do were enough to satisfy most needs of the Public regarding Free Press reputation and integrity, as it confirmed what the Public wanted to hear; in fairness of course most of the Press at that time did indeed tend to try to follow the intellectual ideals of a Free Press.
The classic Industrial Age arguably ended post WW2, and the Age of Technology became the commercial driving force, it also provided an increasing direct access by the Public to its own means of communication and media that essentially by passed the traditional Press - now the Press had a real fight on its hands - "their Truth" could be challenged. So we shoot forward to today with instant live TV, World Wide Web and the traditional newspapers galloping towards electronic presentation and distribution as fast as their sponsors will allow - whoever can think up an activity for the millions of shortly to be redundent newspaper round boys & girls delivering the daily paper will make a fortune. Politicians and Intellectuals (rarely the same genre) increasingly sport their latest sunglass inducing dental job on TV attempting to persuade us that black is in fact white, green is not just a colour, and the latest version of integrity is not just something cooked up by the sponsors spin doctor. Let alone the simple minded bigots and morons that have arguably infested some Web outlets.
"Dog Savages Resident - Fight for Life" screams headline and halo inducing, circulation boosting story amidst population struggling with rabies outbreaks. The inconvenient fact that the perfectly healthy pet from next door had just had the bejesus pounded out of it by a baseball bat wielded by a moronic neighbour is not reported, therefore the story is "true", and the Press is not telling lies - the modern principle "don’t let facts get in the way of a good story". An exaggerated example, of course, to illustrate.
So where do we go from here? I think its a given that a Free Press is needed, Democracy, Law, Commerce and Religious Faiths as we know them would not exist without it. Yet to regulate the obvious manipulations is increasingly hard. In an increasingly rare Press apology, the fact that the dog had been previously pummeled by a baseball bat wielded by an ignorant moron (whose vote is always up for grabs) might if your lucky get reported in a half inch apology column buried on page 67 along with the infamous dating ads "Sexy Sally seeking hunky Dan" - and of course ( to placate PC lovers ) "Hunky Dan seeking sexy Sally".
I would suggest we are in danger of imploding unless this is tackled. The Press is the Oxygen of Politicians and Influential people, let alone Intellectuals, Academics, Religious Institutions and Joe Soap. Too often in the modern age people caught up in their busy lives still automatically believe the Press, dont have the time or courage to dig further for inconvenient and unpalatable truths, and are manipulated (or "informed and advised" as marketing spin doctors, circulation and viewing figure managers would have us believe) by the Dramatic story, or the stories they want to hear. As a generalisation Vision and Integrity has arguably been lost. Even the classic corruption (etc) stories are evaluated at editorial conferences purely on the basis of circulation and impact, not preservation of truth and honesty - despite the format, circumstances and grand words of the final version offered to a gullible public.
It is arguable that Society itself is now becoming corrupted by a "Free Press", the very Institution that created Society as we know it. But if we don’t have a genuinely Free Press we will, arguably, implode. Regulation is not working as its increasingly a problem with the merging of the 'paper press' and 'electronic press' mediums, manipulation of facts for a good story continues. I hate leaving open questions, but on this one, I just don’t know a practical solution. Intellectual Theory on this can only go so far, we also have to cope with a basic human emotion - Greed. The latter is an irritating itch for an Intellectual to deal with in these kinds of issues, and whilst the grand theory is otherwise excellent, somehow we have to make that Intellectual Theory practical in a real world.
The Press needs to adopt an iconic Vision suitable for the modern age and preservation of Integrity, but what is that Vision and How?