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Just who is the enemy of Americans? Is it really the news media? Is your local newspaper your enemy? How about the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times or the Washington Post? How about MSNBC or FOX News? If you don’t like what these news outlets have to say, does that really make them enemies of America?
You need to understand that news outlets were what helped our nation become an independent democracy. They kept us informed about our successes and failures in wartime and in peacetime. They told us of how President Richard Nixon had done wrong and how President Abraham Lincoln had done right. They told us why some wars were just and others were not.
Without news media to keep an eye on government, a criminal element could easily take command. We may not like the views of the opposing parties, but it’s the only way to learn the truth. Because both the right and the left are right part of the time and both are wrong part of the time. It’s the media that tells us when both are wrong at the same time.
To suggest that all news media or even a very few are our enemy is dangerous to our democracy. The very First Amendment to the Constitution gives them the right to warn us of government overstepping its authority.
We are informed by the news media whether we like it or not. And we need it whether we like it or not. The real enemy is the one who tries to get us to believe that the media is the enemy.
Ed Cole
Clarks Summit