Two hundred and fifty years ago revolutionaries put their lives on the line to stand up to the greatest military and economic power on the planet — and told the King of England their status as colonials was over. They would live free or die, and founded a new nation on the high ideals of equality, freedom and a representative system of government rather than kow-towing to royal edicts from on high.
To ensure freedom for the populace, the first thing the founders deemed indispensable was the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights that included freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right to assemble peaceably, and the right to petition the government.
Importantly, the Founders had very direct experience with the monarchy — and they determined the best bastion against authoritarian rule was to split the government structure into three “separate but equal” branches — legislative, judicial, and executive.
To ensure no one branch of government would prove overpowering, they not only built in the checks and balances between the branches, but guaranteed that the people of their new nation would have the right to speak, to write, and to protest the actions of the government in an open and uncensored free press.
World Press Freedom Day was celebrated internationally [on May 3] — because a free press remains the primary guarantee of a free people. It would be great to say press freedom was flourishing and continuing to spread worldwide. But that’s not the way it is.
According the United Nations, “press freedom is in sharp decline everywhere.” And yes, “everywhere” includes the United States, which was once lauded as the “beacon on the hill” to lead the world to freedom, dignity, and equal rights for all.
Unfortunately, that beacon isn’t shining so brightly anymore. In fact, it continues to dim at an alarming pace and the U.S. now sits at 64th out of the 180 nations assessed by Reporters Without Borders in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, the lowest level since ranking began and seven points lower than just a year ago.
As noted by Reporters Without Borders: “The U.S. has experienced a steady decline in the Index over the past decade, but President Trump is pouring gasoline on the fire. Trump and his administration have carried out a coordinated war on press freedom since the day he took office, and we will live with the consequences for years to come.”
Indeed, this comes as no real surprise considering the on-going efforts to eliminate public broadcasters by dismantling the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to attack and destroy media outlets through lawsuits, and threatening reporters with charges of treason if they’re critical of Trump’s positions.
Then there’s the actual acts of physical violence against reporters. According to the US Press Freedom Tracker “there were more than 170 attacks on journalists in 2025, nearly double the previous year, driven by an increase in violence against journalists while covering protests and law enforcement activity.”
It would be great to say Montana was somehow exempt from the disintegration of press freedom, but even now organizations seeking government information have to file lawsuits to find out who cut what deals with Governor Gianforte as he openly ignores the Montana Constitution’s Inalienable “Right to Know” the workings of our own government.
Make no mistake, our once-cherished freedoms are being attacked every day. If we lose Freedom of the Press, the “beacon on the hill” will cease to even flicker, let alone shine — and “freedom” will be but a fading memory of what the Founders once went to war to attain.
This article is republished under a Creative Commons license.
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