Free Press and Democracy Essay

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally and to have free access to information ideas and opinions, with this reasoning is inferred that de democracy needs free press in order to be function properly. The power of the press is associated to the fundamental principles of democracy that’s to say the freedom of expression and freedom of opinion. The desire of people to express themselves freely wouldn’t have been possible without a fully free press. The power of the press has managed to reach such importance as freedom of expression. Free press has the capacity to arms citizens with essential information-the truth, that gives people the opportunity to choose the path to follow and to have their own opinion when it comes to solve problems or take a side in the issues that will always take place in a society. An intimidated, uninformed and disinterested public would be the predictable result of the loss of freedom of the press. It is basic statement that to maintain a healthy democracy no government activity should escape the scrutiny of the press. According to one story, one of Napoleon’s contemporaries visited the United States as a guest of President Thomas Jefferson. Upon seeing a Federalist newspaper article lying on a table that heavily criticized Jefferson’s policies, the visiting Frenchman remarked that the writer of the article should be punished. Jefferson responded calmly, â€Å" Sir, you may take the newspaper back with you to France, because that is the difference between my country and yours.† The president, a great believer in freedom of the press, was telling his visitor that without this right, American would not be the country that it is. This was true in 1800, and is equally true today. The freedom to publish facts, even opposing opinions about those facts, is essential for informed voters to participate in a democracy. In a nutshell, it can be inferred with all this information that democracy and free press needs to come handy, together in order to give people the freedom that they deserve to take their own opinion in a determinate matter. In my opinion everybody have the right to take their own decisions and to have their own opinion in all aspects of live. Without free press there is no democracy, no freedom of choice.