Failure of the Press to retain Freedom JFK

A glimpse into what was lost when journalists and the press failed to maintain their freedom and their obligation to the truth.

00:00 - 25:00 John F. Kennedy reflects on the first two years of his presidency during a conversation with who and what he hoped would be the saving grace of the American Republic. A Free Press, protected under the constitution. A Press that would demand and receive honesty and transparency of any administration for the American People.

25:00 - 30:00 John F. Kennedy’s Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, April 27, 1961
‘Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed–and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment– the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution- -not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply “give the public what it wants”–but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.’

Without debate, without criticism no administration and no country can succeed and no republic can survive.
John F. Kennedy