It is so difficult to draw a clear line of separation between the abuse and the wholesome use of the press, that as yet we have found it better to trust the public judgment, rather than the magistrate, with the discrimination between truth and falsehood. And hitherto the public judgment has performed that office with wonderful correctness.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that distinguishing between good and bad press is challenging and advocates for public judgment over judicial oversight.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson expresses his belief in the complexity of differentiating between harmful and beneficial uses of the press. He argues that entrusting the public with the responsibility of discerning truth from falsehood is generally a more reliable approach than placing that power solely in the hands of magistrates or authorities. Jefferson highlights the effectiveness of public judgment in maintaining a healthy discourse, suggesting a faith in the collective wisdom of society.
In practice
In a discussion about media ethics, this quote can emphasize the role of public perception in evaluating news.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
We must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
People often ask how I can reject the phrase 'woman writer' and not reject the phrase 'Jewish writer' - a preposterous question. 'Jewish' is a category of civilization, culture, and intellect, and 'woman' is a category of anatomy and physiology.
Human life must always be defended from its beginning in the womb and must be recognised as a gift of God that guarantees the future of humanity.
The only authors whom I acknowledge as American are the journalists. They, indeed, are not great writers, but they speak the language of their countrymen, and make themselves heard by them.
Capital punishment is against the best judgment of modern criminology and, above all, against the highest expression of love in the nature of God.
You see but your shadow when you turn your back to the sun.
It is a most delightful reflection that if I come to the throne of God in prayer, I may feel a thousand defects, but yet there is hope. I usually feel more dissatisfied with my prayers than with anything else I do.
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