Fourth Estate Media

One of the principal institutions ostensibly devoted to monitoring and checking abuse of state power is the political media. The theory of a ‘fourth estate’ is to ensure government transparency and provide a check on overreach, of which the secret surveillance of entire populations is surely among the most radical examples. But that check is only effective if journalists act adversarially to those who wield political power.

Instead, the U.S. media has frequently abdicated this role, being subservient to the government’s
interests, even amplifying, rather than scrutinizing, its messages and carrying out its dirty work. (210). We will be reading about the fourth estate – and we already have read about it – though without using the term. What are the critical problems that the fourth estate faces today? Does the fourth estate still act as a viable check on government today?
Do we even need it do so at this point? As you research this question, be sure to consider the question of “fake news,” a term which is frequently used to discredit reporting today. If you choose to write on this question, Chapter 5 of

No Place to
Hide
will be essential reading.