"The Real Meaning of 'Free Press'"

In an excellent essay for The Huffington Post, Jeffrey Feldman discusses the real meaning of "free press":

Freedom of Press Is An Obligation,  Not A Luxury
For the second time in so many presidential terms, George W. Bush is using propaganda to drive the nation into preemptive war on false pretenses. Last time it was Iraq; this time Iran.  And what of the press?  This week, the mainstream media ran stories about UFOs, Hilary Clinton's being a woman, and--most importantly--Don Imus' return. 

Amazingly, the more visible a media outlet is in the United States, the less concerned they seem.  The bigger the broadcast reach of a news station, the less they seem to care that the country is petrified at the prospect of Bush driving our military into another head-on collision with disaster.   

The media, it seems, has forgotten the lesson of Thomas Jefferson and they are no longer holding up their end of the bargain as a result.

Read the rest here.