The Fourth Estate
The belief that the press was free and independent arose by the mid-nineteenth century when businessmen maintained the capitalist order. The mainstream press was then weakened somewhat and maintained a defense in the stability of the state, which later evolved to a society that admitted no conflict of class interest, conflict between ignorance and enlightenment, conflict between the individual and the state, and later provided the intellectual framework where the free press could be perceived as a watch dog of government and guardian of the people.
