The weak slat under the bed

Here's another quote from A.J. Liebling, worth pondering in the occasional discussion of whether the government should intervene in some way to slow the collapse of newspaper journalism:

As an observer from outside I take a grave view of the plight of the press. It is the weak slat under the bed of democracy. It is an anomaly that information, the one thing most necessary to our survival as choosers of our own way, should be a commodity subject to the same merchandising rules as chewing gum, while armament, a secondary instrument of liberty, is a Government concern. A man is not free if he cannot see where he is going, even if he has a gun to help him get there.