Journalism and freedom: a libertarian view

In The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Herbert J. Gans, a Columbia University sociology professor, claims that journalists have not gone far enough in advancing democracy in America. According to professor Gans, journalists need to do more for American democracy; they need to go beyond the inadequate “Journalistic Theory of Democracy” by enacting more fundamental changes.

What more can journalists do for American democracy?

Such a question profoundly misses the point. A far better question would be, “What can journalists do to protect and promote freedom in America today?

Liberal democracy, you see, is not necessarily tantamount to freedom — to upholding the sanctity of individual rights, as originally prescribed in the United States constitution. The locus of Mr. Gans’ contention is tragically misguided. He should not be asking, “What more can journalists do for society and for democracy?” He should, instead, be asking, “What more can we as journalists do for the individual in a truly free society?”

The Journalistic Theory of Democracy, which professor Gans has disavowed in practice but not in principle, presupposes that active citizen participation is inherently worthwhile and valuable, which, of course, clearly implies that an active government — that which governs most — is to be celebrated and applauded.

Such an abominable notion, of course, directly defies our founding tradition of liberty — a tradition which celebrates the government which governs least as the best state on earth.

Yet professor Gans and many other academic types still maintain that more involvement, that more political participation, is right and good; that it should be encouraged by the press, though, paradoxically, more active participation may only lead to more democracy but less freedom, as more and more taxes, onerous controls and stifling bureaucratic regulations are mercilessly heaped upon the unsuspecting individual who merely wishes to be left the heck alone.

Responsible journalists should not call for vigorous government activism or clamor for more socialism. We should not ask, “What can big government do for us, or what can we do for big government?”

We should be asking big government to get well out of the way, so that our individual energies, creativity, self-reliance, entrepreneurship, productivity and talentscan be put to full use.

Now is that too much to ask?