Freedom of the press is one of the seminal rights that those who are Americans are fortunate to have, and this right, is of absolute critical importance to the general public -- for when on the contrary the government strictly controls what can or cannot be written for public dissemination, because such writing must be authorized by that government, then this type of restriction and censorship of the press serves to control the narrative per that governmental preference under the threat of the power that the government so wields.
At the time of Britain’s “Licensing of the Press Act,” this Act stipulated that those presses that were unlicensed had no right to print anything, and therefore anything printed without having been appropriately licensed by the authorized governmental representatives of Great Britain, would therefore have to suffer the consequences, so of. Unsurprisingly, those then, that were licensed to print, knew that in order to remain in the good graces of their government, that they would have to therefore “voluntary” print only that which was in conformance to what the government desired to see printed, which, quite obviously, is a de facto form of censorship.
While freedom of the press, has to a very large extent, been very robust in America, that in itself is not a guarantee, that this particular freedom, will not suffer some serious restrictions in the future. In fact, certain significant parts of America are devolving into believing that some forms of speech, are just too divisive, too hateful, too fake, and too this and too that, so that this speech should not be allowed to be expressed; typically, so justified under the hallmark of this being for not only the greater good of society, but also to improve the civility, so of. While, those sentiments do seem to make sense on one level, that isn’t at its core, what free speech and what a free press is all about; because freedom, in and of itself, means that each of us has the right, to say things that might well be uncomfortable, inappropriate, untrue or pretty much wrong.
Again, freedom of the press, is a right, and that right is not subject to being restricted, because of certain people or governmental representatives, that want to control the narrative per their particular preference, as if they, alone, should be the new licensing agents of the government. Again, it can’t be emphasized enough, that when the press is subject to being licensed or its equivalency, that the people, therefore lose the vibrancy and cacophony of many different viewpoints as well as also experiencing limited diverse thinking and innovative ideas, all in the name of orthodoxy and conformity, as if “cookie cutter” citizens are somehow the ideal citizens, when they are not.
The whole point of having a free press, is to demonstrate our respect that each person should have the opportunity to think for themselves, and that it so follows that what we do not need at all, is to give in to those that desire to limit or repress such a press, under the guise of it being for our own benefit, when in reality, it’s for their benefit, at the expense of our own.