Kailey Childers | Assistant Opinion Editor

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

We all know roughly what the first amendment stands for: freedom of speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion. The freedoms of press and speech have been in the news quite a bit lately. Living in Iowa, we have the privilege of having to deal with several political discussions leading up to the real deciding factors, the caucus and the election. Each political party always seems to put down one another over their respective news channels, and that brings forth the question of the media lying” about one political party to build up another.

Flipping through your television channels you find several news sources, whether that be CNN, FoxNews, and many others that broadcast the same information: who has done wrong in the political setting. Lately, many people say that the media is guilty of biased reporting or are using their power to propel a certain candidate or party forward. That is not completely true. To a point, there is a thin line between a healthy conversation that leads to a great debate, and bad reporting if it is taken to extremes. Lets take FoxNews for example. They tend to be very far right in their coverage, propelling the Republican Party forward. It’s not that they are only reporting on that side of the spectrum, but they use their information to put down the other side, so-to-speak. Even though they may seem like they are biased, it gives a chance for a more Democratic news source, like MSNBC, to be able to debate the “charges” against the left-wing candidates and turn it back around.

Media and the first amendment play a huge role in the foundations of politics more than most people realize. Many people criticize how media portrays the candidates and parties, claiming that the true purpose of media is deteriorating or “off the beaten path”, but true purpose of media has always been to help the citizens by defining the issues that are important to us. Not only do they help to define and choose the issues that are brought up, but they also set the limits for the discussion and can make or break the candidates running for office.

Now, lets take a break from the news stations, and take a look at the candidates themselves. Would the issues brought up about them have been as big of a deal if the media wasn’t there to portray it that way? It seems right now on the Democratic side, the media is digging up anything and everything they can about Hillary Clinton, whether that be her email “scandal” or the whole issue with Benghazi. On the Republican side, questions of Ben Carson’s past are being revealed. Carson has made several claims that the media is showing bias against him while digging up his past. Some believe that he is just acting out when it was found that some of his claims were false. Do I believe that the media is showing bias? No, of course not, and not because I am taking the viewpoint of one party over another, but the First Amendment allows the media to tell their story. Running for President of the United States is basically the biggest job interview in the world. The media digs up whatever personal information on the candidates that they can, not just about their stand on issues over the years, but what kind of person they are according to their previous decisions, whether that be racist, biased, or other.

It is not only freedom of speech, but freedom of the press which plays the biggest role. Having the media be independent is an important asset to any liberal democracy. If the government was able to control what information the media published, they couldn’t be held accountable and would have a level of influence over its citizen’s actions that is unacceptable. This is just one of many reasons that you cannot underestimate the importance of free press. In a liberal democracy like ours, the goal of a free press is to provide the people with accurate information so that they can take that into consideration when they make decisions.

The media’s role in politics is quite important since it acts as an effective check on the power of the government and the influence that this power has on the citizens. Media continues to grow, bringing political information to a wider audience. This growth has also allowed different organizations to quickly reach their target audiences.

Everyone has their own opinions and biases, so requiring all news platforms to report only what they see, leaving out the analytical perspective of it all would basically defeat the purpose of having freedom of press and speech altogether.

Graphic by Justice Gage