WHAT IS THE FOURTH ESTATE or FOURTH BRANCH of GOVERNMENT? « CITIZEN.BLOGGER.1984+ GUNNY.G BLOG.EMAIL

Does the press function as an independent Fourth Estate or as a fourth branch of government?

Are media adversaries of the State or its accomplice?TV’s top journalists are part of the wealthy and influential elite, often socializing with people they’re supposed to be scrutinizing. At an awards banquet for the Radio & Television Correspondents Association during Reagan’s second term, Kathleen Sullivan at the time with ABC was photographed on the arm of then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, while CBS Face the Nation host Lesley Stahl greeted the Republican Party’s national chairman Frank Fahrenkopf with a kiss.

Vice President Bush serenaded the crowd with a speech and journalists got prizes ostensibly for good reporting.David Broder of the Washington Post, often described as the dean of American political reporting, has won many awards in his day. Upon accepting a prize for lifetime service to journalism at Washington’s National Press Club in 1988, Broder stated: “I can’t for the life of me fathom why any journalists would want to become insiders, when it’s so much fun being outsiders-irreverent, inquisitive, incorrigibly independent outsiders, thumbing our nose at authority and going our own way.”