The 5th Value of Free Expression is what I believe to be the most important and most underrated value. This value is a check on governmental power. North Korea is the best example of the government having far too much power. You can not freely travel the country, let alone leave the country. Kim Jong-un has a dictatorship over North Korea having total control of everything in the country because of his heavily armed support system. North Koreans are completely left in the dark about what is going on in their country as well as out of the country. The citizens are lied to and not supported in any way. They are then told that their country is the best country in the world, they are actually told they win the olympics, as well as the World Cup every time. The government has all of the power in this country as the dictatorship is simply handed down the family. Obviously this is an extreme case, but the more power the government is given, the easier it is for them to acquire more power. The press, as well as all citizens in the U.S. have the right to know what is going on in politics, thus giving them a fair judgement to decide on their vote for governmental officials. Having the right to choose and elect the people representing as well as making decisions for our country is a right and we are required to be informed on what each and every person believes and plans to do with the power they are rewarded. Obviously the press are informed first, who then passes it on to the public. The problem with this system, is that the press does include a lot of bias. Whether they realize it or not, each member of the press does have an opinion, and will attempt to portray their opinion directly or indirectly with word choice. If there is a democrat reporter who hates Donald Trump and everything that he is about, he will portray him negatively. The press will not necessarily lie, but can choose to not tell the full truth, leading to a consumer reading it and thinking negatively about the subject of what was said. There is no check-and-balance system without the citizens of America. As a nation it is our duty to keep the government in check, not giving them too much power. This means dealing with their decisions on the subjects we do give them power on. Any decision made, will anger someone, but we need to deal with them because these are the people we voted in to make the decisions that we do not have the knowledge about, nor the time to achieve said knowledge.
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