Why is a free press essential to democracy? If there were no free press, how would you get your information? If you couldn’t trust the information, what effect would that have on your political attitudes? Can we maintain a democracy when most Americans pay little attention to political events?
You just kind of answered your own question. Free press and the freedom of speech are essential because democracy is founded on the idea of equality, and everyone being able to have a say in politics. If there was no free press, then the public would get a distorted view of events, and those in power could manipulate ideas in their favour, and essentially control the power. I think that basically a combination of two things would happen if information was not trustworthy: One, there would be an underground network of information and news flow that would reach the people dedicated to finding out the truth. This could eventually lead to a sort of rebellion. Two, people would think what is the use of caring, if the government will do their own thing anyway? and these people would simply try to make the best of it under whatever system they were stuck with. Little political interest, I believe, is not a tragedy, at least not now. It means that people trust their government, or at least that there is no crisis of legitimacy or no major concerns. Usually there is more involvement when things take a down turn, and people are not satisfied with the current government etc. For example, the last election generated way more interest than most.
Free press is essential because there are people who do pay attention to what is said. It is important that we have a right to criticize the Govt, especially if the criticism is truth. Former President George W. Bush is himself a supporter of free speech, it was obvious too when he was asked what he thought of the comment the Dixie Chicks made about him, and he said that's their opinion. and well he is right about that, it is their opinion and we have a right to agree or disagree with such opinions they expressed. When Elton John blamed Dennis Miller for anti-American sentiments, Dennis Miller responded with well that's Elton John's opinion, but no one is required to agree with it. Free Speech involves saying what you wish as long as you don't spread lies or intend physical hard and/or murder, and if the words you freely speak seem very damning, you should have no fear if it happens to be the truth. When Peter Zenger printed an article about the cruel Royal Governor of New York, the Royal Governor had him tossed in Jail and put on trial for libel. However it turned out the article was the truth, so the Jury found Peter Zenger not guilty of libel, and he was set free. Peter thanked his lawyer for this but his lawyer said I should thank you, because this sets the stage for greater things. This set the precident of being able to print the truth even if the truth seemed cold and harsh. I remember when Joel Siegel said that he gives good reviews on movies he likes but he does write nasty things about movies he doesn't like.
