“were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
This week we discuss the importance of a free press with President Jefferson.
On November 4, 1823 Thomas Jefferson wrote to Marquis de Lafayette that "the only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted, when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary to keep the waters pure."
In January of 1816 Jefferson wrote to Colonel Charles Yancey, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe."
Further Reading
What Would Jefferson Do?
“I don’t like confiscation of wealth and I don’t like redistribution.”
Tune in to your local public radio or join the 1776 Club to hear this episode of What Would Thomas Jefferson Do?
"were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
— Thomas Jefferson, 1787
This week we discuss the importance of a free press with President Jefferson.
"We need to protest firmly without any ambiguity whatsoever."
— Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson
"Whatever's wrong with the press, we must defend it, because the alternative is tyranny."
— Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson
"Voltaire at the end of Candide says, just go home and cultivate your garden."
— Clay S. Jenkinson
This week, we catch up on our mail bag and also speak with a couple of Thomas Jefferson Hour listeners.