Barlow 2-A Democracy for the Common Person

During the time of Thomas Paine, America was still a cluster of colonies under the theocratic rule of the British King. With the writing of his book, Common Sense, he urged the people of America to take a position to fight for the colonies and aim for a democracy for the people, not one where a single king makes the law of all (p23). Paine believed liberty was a mere dream as long as a King ruled over them, for liberty to be amongst them, they needed a governing body from the people and for the people (p23).

“We the People” pic by Stefan Ogrisek

Early American journalism was more of a hobby than a profession, as it was an activity to engage oneself and the community into the spread of knowledge and political discourse, not a job. As stated in the earlier post, a great anger of mine is the “click-bait” tendency of MSM, even out of the internet, stories on news channels will attempt to only give very little details as soon as possible in sake of being the first to get views than the first to get a well-rounded and informed story. Paine wrote to the common person, not the educated elite nor to make money. He wrote to inform and to attempt to give a position to the common people of the land. This is what journalism today should become. A process of any citizen to inform the community about what is going on in the community and to give views on political action. It should be to simply inform and educate, not “break a story” for a gain of views, fame, or money. The ‘gain’ associated with being a company for news cares about profit more than it does education to its viewers.