This is Part IV in the Shredding the Constitution series. There is no journalistic umpire. Nor, should there be any such officials whether uniformed in black or any other color. Do you dare imagine, If there were such journalistic umpires — literally deciding each pitch offered up by the press or the broader media — each such bureaucrat would almost certainly be installed by the central government league office. The Founders understood the inherent power of the press. They also understood why the press could not be throttled by government. That’s why, wisely, our Founders included Freedom of the Press in the specifications of the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Journalists with integrity would give value and form serving as a type of Fourth Estate on behalf of the people — not government or themselves. That was the idea, hope and intent of the Founders when they established a system of checks and balances within government and, indirectly, society. The reality is Freedom provides a wide range of opportunities including some that are nefarious. Down through the years, press syndicates annoyed (that’s a nice way to put it) government officials, political parties, big business and other powerful segments of society. But, typically, there were offsetting press opinions influencing the public debate and policy. Over time, however, the trend lines began to skew — decidedly leftward.  Read that as: not liberal but progressive. With the expansion of network television and radio news following World War II, the skew became not only more distinct, the breath of the expanding media became enveloping in its influence  and impact on American society. Then, within the print media, the progressive skew that had grown to infect editorial opinion spread into syndicated op-ed pieces.  Next, the progressive infection seeped out of the opinion pages to take root in the reportage of the news pages itself. As a result, today, media bias has become an almost universal point of view of individual citizens. Of course, the view of each individual is based upon their own degree of objective perception as well as, perhaps, their own myopic interpretation of the information actually being provided by the media. In reality, the bias of individual journalists and editors as well as the bias of electronic news producers as to which story lines or events they choose to select for coverage and how information and details are reported undermine the ethical standards and professionalism that is essential to fulfilling the duties and responsibilities accorded by Freedom of the Press. While I do not doubt the Founders would be appalled if they had to ingest what is served up these days as journalism, I do not doubt that the Founders would still, wisely, embed the Freedom of the Press into the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. What to do? In their book, “The Elements of Journalism,” authors Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel cite 10 specific guidelines that must be followed “in order for journalists to fulfill their duty.” I will paraphrase for you here the first three as food thought: •A Journalist’s “first obligation is to tell the truth” – not obfuscate, manipulate, etc. •A Journalist’s “first loyalty is to the citizens” – not a political party, person, or philosophy. •A Journalist’s “essence is discipline or verification” – not leaks, plants but validated facts. Imagine what would happen if all or many more journalists took the first three guidelines to heart? Shredding the Constitution Series will continued next week. Richard Olivastro is president of Olivastro Communications. Rich Olivastro@ gmail.com or by phone at 1-877-RichSpeaks.