The fourth estate

The term “fourth estate” historically has its roots in medieval times when society was classified into estates. The first three estates being: the clergy, the nobility, and the common people. The fourth estate back then was commonly referred to as “the press” or the news media as we now know it. Its role was to be the “watchdog” to the other three estates and report to the general public any discrepancies within these three estates. In modern times, the three estates were transformed into the three branches of the government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Informally “the press” again was referred to as the fourth estate, whose role it was once again, “to monitor the other branches as an external check on behalf of the people” (Vivian). So the significance of the fourth estate dating back to medieval times to the present was to monitor the activities of the government and then to report any wrongdoings to the mass media. “As one Wag put it, the founders saw the role of the press as keeping tabs on the radicals in power to keep them honest” (Vivian). “The press” and the news media have always played an important role in our democracy and will continue to do so in the future.