Founders empowered Congree to support accurate news
By Kevin Frazier / For The Fulcrum
The Post Office Act of 1792 is the most important piece of legislation you’ve never heard of. This single act turned the postal network into a marketplace of ideas rather than a means for generating revenue. Today, our primary channels for the spread of ideas — social media platforms — are steered by profit rather than the public’s interest.
If that status quo persists, you can expect our democracy to continue to deteriorate. That’s why we’ve got to study and learn from the Post Office Act, Congress’ postal power and the expectations of the Founders. A quick historical review suggests that the government not only has the authority to intervene in the marketplace of ideas but actually has an affirmative duty to do so.
You don’t need a doctorate in political science to know that our democracy will fail if people don’t have access to timely, accurate and actionable news. The Founders acted on that simple fact by establishing and expanding a postal network. Thanks to the Post Office Act, the 69 post offices that existed in 1788 became 13,000 by 1840. What’s more, the law subsidized the spread of democratic information by lowering the postage rate for newspapers and eliminating postage for the exchange of news between printers. It follows that over the course of a few decades, Congress made sure that Americans in every nook and cranny of the country could read about current affairs in quality newspapers.
Two centuries later, it appears as though Congress has forgotten its obligation to maintain a primary channel for the distribution of democratic knowledge. That obligation is baked into Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the Constitution, which grants Congress the power to “establish post offices and post roads.” Given that there were no alternative channels for mass communication when the Constitution was written, this clause can and should be interpreted as a grant of authority to develop a robust marketplace of ideas.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-founders-empowered-congree-to-support-accurate-news/