The U.S. Media Should Be Watchdogs...Not Lapdogs

By Chris Rossini

Let us imagine a much freer America for a moment; an America where citizens place a very high value on their freedom and liberty. Under such a scenario, there would surely be a market for top-notch reporting and journalism.

What would the journalists be considered? Watchdogs.

Since Americans (in this imaginary scenario) place a high value on liberty, the watchdog reporters would keep a very close eye on the politicians. If a politician even looks like he's thinking of violating the U.S. Constitution, the reporters would be all over it. They would attack, and expose any move towards tyranny.

After all, in a freer society, most Americans would be productively working, and wouldn't have the time to watch over the politicians themselves. They'd be busy satisfying the most urgent desires of their customers. Reporters would be compensated for their watchdog skills. 

Now let us return to present-day America. 

What is known as "mainstream media" acts nothing like a watchdog. The "reporters" have been completely neutered. Instead of playing a noble role of keeping the government in check, they have become an embarrassing disgrace.

The "reporters" sit comfortably on the laps of the politicians that they now serve. They bark out whatever the regime in power wants. No matter what the scenario, the lapdogs are always calling for an increase in the power government. While a nice show between "left" and "right" is put on for the American public, the only difference between the two sides is how the government should be awarded more power, not if.

Instead of watching American politicians, and for violations of liberty, the media focuses on politicians around the world that are of no consequence to American freedom. If the U.S. government doesn't like those foreign politicians, the media goes into a frenzy and creates the next villain that American citizens need to fear. 

With that fear comes even greater losses of liberty at home.

Americans have become so conditioned by this downward spiral, that even imagining the media acting as a watchdog on our own government takes a bit of imagination. The U.S. government violates the U.S. Constitution (i.e., what is supposed to be "the law of the land") so routinely, that it's hard to even imagine what obeying it would even look like.

What is it like to keep the fruits of your labor? What is it like to not be spied on? What is it like to freely contract for employment without tip-toeing through a minefield of regulations? What is it like for your government to mind its own business, and not rush to become the next failed military empire?

As the decline of liberty in America continues to run its course, the sides have been clearly chosen. The watchdogs have dropped the bone. They've become a pack of lapdogs who have done nothing but contribute to liberty's decline.
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