Midterm Reflection
When I first signed up for this class, I expected a dry timeline of dates, names, and prominent newspapers. Instead, I found myself delving into journalism's vibrant and often turbulent history, spanning from the colonial era of the 1600s to the transformative penny press period and beyond. Free speech is the cornerstone of our First Amendment , and as my teacher proclaimed, “freedom of the press is a fundamental personal right, not an institutional one.” Meaning, our freedom to criticize the government is not exclusive to media organizations; it belongs to us. The adversarial role of journalism is to act as a check on governmental power, thus it is not just a right but a duty, to act as a watchdog for democracy. Throughout our history, journalists have served this role well. From whistleblowers to muckrakers, journalists have persistently exposed corruption, challenged authority, and illuminated injustices hidden from public view. Ida Tarbell, 1904 We learned ab...