ABSTRACT
Nobody elected the press, as the phrase goes. Journalism has become increasingly central to social and political life, but its legitimacy has always been open to question. Journalists point to the First Amendment, but the truth is that when it was written, neither large-scale media industries nor professional journalists existed, and the press had neither the independent economic foundation nor the privileged access to the halls of power that “the media” now enjoy. It is not surprising, then, that at many moments in American history, journalists have been accused of unfairness and abuse of power.
