It has now been two days since the 2024 election yet rather than accept the election results and moving forward, the mainstream press seems affixed on continually creating discord. They seem to continually publish or air statements regarding how things were unfair, biased, etc., and supporting many of those who were not elected by a majority of American voters.

According to Merriam-Webster’s web site, “The term fourth estate has been around for centuries. In Europe, going back to medieval times, the people who participated in the political life of a country were generally divided into three classes or estates. In England they were the three groups with representation in Parliament, namely, the nobility, the clergy, and the common people. Some other group, like the mob or the public press, that had an unofficial but often great influence on public affairs, was called the fourth estate. In the 19th century, fourth estate came to refer exclusively to the press, and now it’s applied to all branches of the news media.”

In other sources, there was also an emphasis that the press had a responsibility to do this in an unbiased manner, without interference by either the government or personal views. The term press has been popularly expanded to include other forms of the media, including social media. What I could not find anywhere was the inclusion of celebrities such as television and movie stars, professional athletes and coaches, or even former government officials, elected or appointed, were part of the fourth estate.

Unfortunately, when viewing the press (or media) today, it seems that these celebrities are represented as smarter or more qualified than the average American to make election decisions. This seems to be supported by the media when publishing headlines stressing the views of these celebrities. Is this actually a lack of bias?

I respect the decision of the press to provide an opportunity for opinions and editorials which offer opposing views. I do question whether any of these should be headlined by the press without being identified as opinions.

I believe the role of the press is to report the news for public consumption without telling the public how to think. I also believe that many people have come to distrust the mainline media. And, that as a result, people have put themselves in harm’s way because of this distrust. I’m not sure that we will ever return to the level of trust that existed in the era shortly after World War II where the news was reported, not interpreted.