America’s Fourth Estate - The Press

America’s Fourth Estate 

Weapons of mass destruction, the semen stained blue dress, Watergate, Abu Ghraib, and the loss of public support for the Vietnam War – these are all situations where the Fourth Estate was an active participant. The Founding Fathers believed in the Fourth Estate. They set up protections within the Bill of Rights to shelter this estate. While they never used the term Forth Estate in the founding documents, they used another term – the Press. While it does have different meanings, the prominent definition in the United States is that the Fourth Estate is the institutionalized press or what we call today the mass media. 

In America, we have a three-branch system of government – the Executive branch (President), the Legislative branch (Congress), and the Judicial branch (Supreme Court). Each of these branches performs vital roles for our country. The term Fourth Estate, then, relates to the press being a bridge between the public and their three-branch government. While each of the three-branches is set up to act as a check and balance of power, the role of the press is to act as a fourth check on government. It is their job to be the people’s eyes and ears “over the Hill.” It often acts as the conduit between government and the public. The media encourage transparent accountability within democracy. Through their reporting of the actions of government officials, they can evoke strong public opinion, which in turn can force legal action for those who break the law or cause the officials under public pressure to change actions to better represent their constituents’ views. The Fourth Estate should not be confused with the Fourth Branch, though. While both can refer to the press, Fourth Estate means an independent estate while the Fourth Branch is known as an organization instep or even pulling strings in the background of government. Such examples of this Fourth Branch can include the public, the press, secret societies, special interest groups, lobbyists or other administrations within the government. For example, according to nonpartisan data from the Center for Responsive Politics, in 2010, organizations and industries spent more than three and a half billion dollars for lobby activities. This, in turn, certainly affected legislators to vote one way or another on particular bills. While both the Forth Estate and Forth Branch do invoke change, they go about it in different ways. 

Mass distribution of information and ideas are the bedrock to a civilized nation. The marketplace of ideas allows differing viewpoints to be heard. It allows false ideas and statements to be vetted and true ideas to be made stronger. The press is a vital tool to that marketplace of ideas. Take, for example,, the recent Trayvon Martin shooting by George Zimmerman. Because of the media reporting of this incident within the marketplace of ideas, people are talking about such things as self-defense, gun control, racial bias, gun freedom, Stand Your Ground laws, media bias, and racism in white and black communities. As we continue to discuss this incident, certain falsities and truths will be revealed through the discourse. 

While the term Fourth Estate does not have a clear origin, most history scholars note it coming from the late 1700s. Thomas Carlyle wrote of Edmund Burke using it in Great Britain in his 1841 book, On Heroes and Hero – Worship: 

Burke said that there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or witty saying; it is a literal fact, – very momentous to us in these times. (Carlyle 219) 

In one of the events leading up to the Revolutionary War, the British enacted the Stamp Act of 1765 on the Colonies. It required that all printed materials like books, newspapers, and other publications, be printed on special stamped paper bought from the British. It infuriated the colonists as it became a direct regulation on the distribution of ideas – many of which were critical of the British government. The newspapers took sides, and those loyal to the revolutionaries were crucial to mobilizing the people to rise up against the oppressive British rule. It allowed large-scale opinion to be heard by the masses. It was during this time that the American press realized and capitalized on the power that they possessed. 

Because of their great influence and assistance during the Revolutionary War, the Founding Fathers gave the press special protections within the Bill of Rights in the First Amendment. “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.” This especially protects the Fourth Estate from government regulation when it comes to content or opinion. 

The Fourth Estate has uncovered multitudes of government corruption, mismanagement, and crime throughout the country’s history. From the Washington Post uncovering the Watergate scandal and, in turn, forcing the resignation of President Richard Nixon to the media’s involvement during the Civil Rights Movement informing the public of the atrocities occurring to blacks in the South, the press performs a vital role to democracy and the marketplace of ideas. While not officially a part of the American government, the Fourth Estate is one of the foundations of American civilization. 

Works Cited 

Carlyle, Thomas. On Heroes and Hero - Worship. 1841. Web. 17 June 2012. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1091/1091-h/1091-h.htm>

“Lobbying Database.” Center for Responsive Politics, 30 April 2012. Web. 23 June 2012. <http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/>