Letter to the Editor: Free press is needed if democracy is to flourish

To the Editor:

The best cleansing agent to keep government accountable is a free press. Before the United States was created, the colonists recognized the importance of and necessity for a free press.

The trial of Peter Zenger in 1733 points to that. Alexander Hamilton defending him, Zenger won the right to print freely, even articles critical of the New York governor and his corruption. The Founding Fathers protected freedom of the press in the First Amendment.

Today, the president attacks the free press unless it praises him. He says that the free press is “frankly disgusting” and threatens...