If journalism in the United States is under attack, it is safe to assume that democracy is, too.
Since the founding of this nation, it has been written into the basic law of the land that the press and a person's right to speak should be protected, within reason. Why, then, are journalists being heralded as evil, when their sole purposes are only to inform the public and protect the truth?
A democracy needs journalism, protected by the First Amendment, for three reasons: reporting the truth, which is essential for the validity of important information, to be the watchdog for the people on the government's actions, and for informing citizens with valuable voting and election backgrounds, in order to promote the backbone of democracy, participation in the government itself.
A democracy, defined, is known as "a government by the people," and is furthermore "for the people."
Therefore, such a government, which exists as an extension of the people's will, must protect the people's freedoms. In the First Amendment, the freedoms of speech and the press are lauded as being of supreme importance, and as such, journalism is the written and broadcasted presentation of news and information. Therefore, both journalism and the First Amendment are essential to the very heart of a true democracy.
In any civilized political system in every nation around the globe, there seems to be an inevitable degree of corruption. Journalism, therefore, is not only crucial in reporting the truth but in acting as a "watchdog," a sort of "lookout" and theoretically unbiased outside party meant to inform the citizens of a democratic nation of their government's actions.
As stated in the First Amendment, the right of the people is upheld to "...petition the government for a redress of grievances," therefore democracy needs journalism to act as the petitioner of grievances, or issues, with the government.
In order to uphold a truly free democracy, journalism, with its spreading of truth, civil responsibility to citizens, and spurring of political participation and representation, must be protected. In order to uphold a truly honorable democracy, the First Amendment must be respected. In order to lead other nations in the pursuit of happiness, a democracy such as the United States must never cease to seek what is free and just.
