The Vitality of a Free Press

“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

-Thomas Jefferson, 1787

Resources ... The Idea ... Making the Idea a Reality ... Legacy

Resources

Timeline: America's Free Press

Videos Learn more about Jefferson's thoughts on the significance of a free press in early America.

Biographies and Stories Learn about newspapermen who made an impact on the political and social history of America.

Quotations Read Jefferson's own words about the importance of a free press in the experiment of self-government.

Timeline: America's Free Press

A Closer Look

The Idea

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost”
- Thomas Jefferson, 1786

Jefferson believed in the necessity of a free press as a watchdog to keep citizens informed and involved in government affairs, but the press had an obligation to accuracy in reporting. In Jefferson’s words: "Since truth and reason have maintained their ground against false opinions in league with false facts, the press confined to truth needs no other legal restraint.”

Freedom of the press was a major controversy in early America and its role as a watchdog and forum to criticize public officials is no less controversial today.

Making the Idea a Reality

1st Amendment guarantees freedom of the press "There are rights which it is useless to surrender to the government, and which yet, governments have always been fond to invade. These are the rights of thinking and publishing our thoughts by speaking or writing.” - Thomas Jefferson, 1789

Sedition Act denies freedom of the press In 1798, the Federalist-controlled Congress passed the Sedition Act to silence its critics, making it illegal to publish “false, scandalous or malicious writing” against the U.S. or a public official. Jefferson argued that the Sedition Act violated the First Amendment; Freedom of the press became a campaign issue in the election of 1800.

Hamilton defends freedom of the Press In 1804, Harry Croswell appealed his libel conviction for criticizing President Jefferson. His lawyer, Alexander Hamilton, argued in the New York Supreme Court, “the right of giving the truth in evidence ... is all-important to the liberties of the people. Truth is an ingredient in the eternal order of things, in judging the quality of acts.”

Spotlight

Jefferson and the Partisan Press

The partisan politics arising from the creation of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties gave birth to the partisan press. Jefferson’s letters reveal his mixed feelings on the freedom of the press, which he came to view as a necessary evil.

The Legacy

The Bill of Rights ensures the right to a free press in America, yet defining and protecting that is an ongoing challenge.

Click to view a timeline of key moments in the history of the free press in America.

Moving Forward

“If a nation expects to be ignorant & free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was & never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty & property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.” - Thomas Jefferson, 1816

A Civic Engagement Initiative sponsored by and in collaboration with The New York Community Trust – The Peter G. Peterson Fund.

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