The Free Press

In The Free Press, Hilaire Belloc offers an incisive analysis of the problems associated with modern news media - what Belloc refers to as "the capitalist press" or "the official press." He offers a powerful defence of the importance of alternative news media - what Belloc refers to as "the free press." His critique of modern news media is just as relevant today as it was in his time, particularly the need for fundamental reforms in news media industry, if proper democracy is to be allowed to flourish. Belloc asserts that word of mouth is the natural and normal mode of transmitting the news and opinion necessary to sustain a modern democratic state. He then argues that the introduction of modern mass media has inevitably led to a twofold corruption in the democratic process.