The Changing Role of the US News Media The Internet is our modern source of news media; the importance of the newspaper has not only diminished, but is in a sense obsolete. Now we turn to the Internet for opinion, news and entertainment. While the way we consume information (PBS) has changed, the importance of vigilant, unfettered media has not. (Magleby, Light, & Nemacheck, 2010) The framers of our constitution were well aware of the importance of the press as a judge to discuss the implications and review the actions of politicians and government. Although the Bill of Rights guaranteed freedom of the press, initially only wealthy politicians provided adequate funding. The press was funded through the lenses of politicians, in order to get their word out to the voting masses (white men who owned property); around the same time Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson attempted to keep voters informed through the publication and dissemination of pamphlets. Hamilton recruited John Fenno and Jefferson employed Phillip Freneau to edit and publish these newspapers, and as a result, divided partisan competition among news sources began. This funding from politicians also limited journalistic independence. Financial independence was achieved when the right to vote was extended to all white men. With independence from the influence of political parties, the news has changed; Instead of targeting the elite few, the press tried to appeal to the mass of people. Literacy rates began to increase, as did political participation rates; another turning point concerned the way newspapers were financed. The “Penny Press” method has allowed for a wider dissemination of information than ever before. This method, at the heart of the paper, has more and more power over minorities. Works Cited (2010). The changing role of the US news media. In DB Magleby, PC Light, and CL Nemacheck, Government By the People, 2011 national edition (pp. 274-295). Longman Pub Group.McNamara, R. (n.d.). Penny Press. Retrieved from 19th Century History: http://history1800s.about.com/od/1800sglossary/fl/Penny-Press-definition.htmPBS. (n.d.). Yellow journalism. Retrieved from Crusible of Empire: http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_journalism.htmlPewResearch. (2012, September 27). IN THE CHANGING NEWS LANDSCAPE, TELEVISION IS ALSO VULNERABLE. Retrieved from PewResearch Center for the People & the Press: http://www.people-press.org/2012/09/27/section-1-watching-reading-and-listening-to-the-news-3/watergate .information. (n.d.). Watergate: the scandal that brought down Richard Nixon. Retrieved from Watergate.info: http://watergate.info/