The Founding Fathers Supported A Free Press. What Can't Donald Trump?

During his entire campaign for the presidency, Donald Trump was consistent about one thing. The press couldn't be trusted. They were often liars, frequently partisan and they refused to support his point of view in every circumstance.  That attitude has continued after the election, with the president-elect continuing to attack specific media outlets for what he describes as "terrible" reporting. And today brings word that the Trump White House might get rid of a number of traditional interactions between a President and the press, including the daily press briefings from the White House press secretary.

All of this might sound like whining from the media or just another "inside the Beltway" battle that doesn't impact the rest of America. But the press matters. Press conferences, briefings and other regular contacts with an Administration are a vital part of American politics. It's part of the reason the United States has remained strong while some other democracies across the globe have collapsed into despotism.

One of the first moves any dictator or despot makes when they take control is to stifle and/or shut down the independent press outlets. Because they all realize that a free and unfettered press provides a counterweight to the ambitions of any strongman-in-waiting. It's much easier to disarm and overpower unhappy citizens than it is to battle a chorus of independent voices highlighting all of your misdeeds.

America's Founding Fathers were well aware of this fact and that is why the so often discussed the importance of a free press. Newspapers in the 1700s were often wildly partisan and often published more rumors than actual news. But even with all of their flaws, America's greatest leaders understood that even an inaccurate is better than no press at all.

Which is why I find the attacks of Trump and his minions on the press to be so perplexing. They claim to be interested in following the Constitution and the wishes of America's founders. And yet, they continue to make the argument that the U.S. would be better if the press had more restrictions and less access to power.

But based on these comments, I think our Founding Fathers would disagree:

"If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed."

— Benjamin Franklin




"But none of the means of information are more sacred, or have been cherished with more tenderness and care by the settlers of America, than the press."

— John Adams, second U.S. president




"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."

— Thomas Jefferson




"If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought — not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate."

— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., U.S. Supreme Court justice




"The liberty of the press is essential to the security of the state."

— John Adams, second U.S. president




"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

— Thomas Jefferson


But it's not just a free press that the founders felt was important. They believed the press should be able to speak up against power, no matter how unpopular the topic. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump argued that he hoped to change the libel laws in the United States. That would be a shock to America's founders, who had seen first-hand how British libel laws had been used to stifle political dissent.

In the 1700s, the British government used the charge of "seditious libel" as a bludgeon to stifle dissenting voices. British subjects were free to say or write whatever they liked, but if a member of the social hierarchy or government deemed remarks offensive or harmful, subjects engaging in free speech could be prosecuted and punished, regardless of the veracity of their statements. That appears to be the future our new president would like to see put into law in the United States.

Which begs the question. If the founding fathers clearly understood the need for a free press - even if it was sometimes partisan - why can't our president-elect and his supporters?