GermanSteve,

I know of no country on this planet where the government can not and does not steer, direct, and yes, misdirect the fourth estate. None. Fortunately, in liberal democracies like those of the United States, Great Britain, and Australia, it is much more difficult for the government to do so than in, say, China, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, or Iraq.

No one is absolutely free. You are decidedly not free to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre. Nor are you free to swing you fist if my face happens to be in the way. Indeed, civilized behavior dictates that you arrest you swing well before the point of impact. No news organization can be totally free without threatening the state.

Civilized people FREELY relinquish the right to initiate violence to the state. The implicit contract between the citizen and the state permits the state to exert force over its own citizens, and in extremis, over those of other states. In return, the citizens, usually through elected representatives, control the range of behaviors which the state can attempt to control.

I suspect that you are quite correct to suggest “the war would not have happened if you all could receive free information”. Can anyone think – even for a moment - that had the Iraqi people had the free information that Saddam Hussein rule them as the murderous tyrant that he has for these 24 years, that they would have failed to remove him from office while they had a chance?

__________________
Eudaimonia