Recent events concerning China’s suppression and retaliation over comments from members of the NBA have highlighted the importance of a free press in an open society.
In China, the media can only report what the Communist Party approves. This keeps the population from accurately understanding and responding to how their government performs. In the United States, there are also media that function as though they were state media, with the sole goal of propping up a government or party through deflection, misrepresentation, or non-truths.
We have witnessed this recently with the president’s Ukraine “quid pro quo,” his surrender to Turkey and the betrayal of our Kurdish allies. Even Sen. Mitch McConnell chose to turn to the mainstream free press, The Washington Post, to voice his disagreement over the president’s actions.
If you partake in only the conservative media echo chamber, your eyes were conveniently spared a full reading of McConnell’s outrage. Closer to home, Gov. Mike Dunleavy has also decided to spurn the free press. He attempted to cripple public radio and TV by cutting state funding, and he has recently engaged the national conservative media for help spinning his actions that have led to a populist recall campaign.
A free press may not always report what you hoped to hear, but it is the only way a person can be an intelligent, informed participant in a democracy.
— Mark Wolbers
Anchorage
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