One of the cornerstones of our democracy is a free and independent press. It holds our government accountable and allows us to actively participate in our democracy. We must protect the press as an institution from attacks by public officials.
There’s nothing more important to a functioning democracy than an informed, engaged, public. That’s why we need an independent and constitutionally-protected free press that reports the facts voters need. It’s no secret that the first target of any authoritarian regime is journalists.
Common Cause believes the press must be protected as an institution from attacks by public officials. But recently, the free press has been under constant attack by political partisans; that makes this a critical time to educate the public about the importance of an independent press that can report on issues without bias and with full transparency.
Even more important, we need to make sure the public is informed and able to choose between reliable and unreliable sources, in order to form opinions based on facts.