“Freedom of the press, or, to be more precise, the benefit of freedom of the press, belongs to everyone, to the citizen as well as the publisher. … The crux is not the publisher’s freedom to print; it is, rather, the citizen’s right to know,” said Arthur Sulzberger, former publisher of The New York Times.

If we understood better what Sulzberger was saying, America would be a much different place than it is today. So far, in talking about how to reclaim our Americanness, I’ve covered some basic principles of American philosophy, and how our education system is killing us. And no conversation about how to be an American would be complete without taking about the media.

Discussions about the media always seem to degenerate into a discussion about bias. The problem with the media is not bias, however, despite what those from the political extremes say. Clearly, all people are biased by virtue of being people.

We view the world in the way that our life experiences influence. Therefore, bias is unavoidable, both on the part of a reporter and on the part of the reader. It is this individual bias that makes bias OK: If you don’t agree with someone’s position, go read or watch other media sources to get a more rounded view, form an argument and debate.

The genuine problems with the media revolve around at least two things. First, the media confuse opinion, entertainment and social media garbage with actual, honest-to-goodness news. Secondly, the national media have replaced the role of the local media in our lives.

All media outlets are guilty of these things, though Fox News is perhaps the worst offender; that they call themselves Fox “News” illustrates my point. Fox started out as an entertainment business. It made movies, then eventually TV programs, and in this capacity it was one of the best. Fox is responsible for some of the best movies and shows in entertainment history.

Then it decided to go into the news industry. It’s not that entertainment-based corporations can’t do news properly, but it does hold significant potential for blurring the line. And Fox News pretty much erased that line. Its content proves the point: Bill O’Riley, Hannity, etc. Shock jock-style taking heads, in other words, whose job is to rile people up for ratings.

That news agencies pay attention to ratings reveals the fundamental problem. News is just facts about the world. What is the effect when we produce entertainment value out of that? What effect do media have on society when we dilute and “spice up” facts to get people to pay attention so we can please advertisers so they sell more stuff and give us more money? What effect does distracting readers and viewers from the facts with fancy graphics, slick presentations and meaningless Facebook polls have?

Isn’t this the wrong way to go about the First Amendment duty to inform the citizens?

We’ve lost our local perspective in the media too. Former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil said, “All politics is local.” The matters truly affecting us are those we experience personally, right where we live. Think about it: There are few things the federal government does that affects our personal lives daily, compared to decisions our city councils, county boards and state legislatures make.

Media sources used to be locally oriented. They reported on those issues that affect us most, the things happening right around us. Our local issues reflect our local character; they are the things that matter to us. These things are different than what someone experiences in eastern Iowa, or the eastern United States.

This is why we have representation in government after all, so our local concerns — the things that define and matter to us — can be represented. If localness wasn’t an issue, there would be no need for local representation, and our governments could be composed of anyone from anywhere in the country.

Media circumvent this principle by substituting old school journalism of reporting local news, events and various facts, with national nonsense. One can turn any news show on at any time of the day and hear about stuff that is absolutely irrelevant to you. At the time of my writing, CNN, the alleged news leader, has headlines about some French pimp, the death of a Bush impersonator and a horse that was pulled out of a well.

In all seriousness, who gives a shit?

Entertainment over facts and the substitution of local perspectives with a homogeneous, characterless national perspective. These things have ruined the media, and as citizens, we’re paying the price. Media have become mass media, or perhaps better stated, mob media. If you’re fed nonsense, maybe you’ll be distracted and wont pay attention to important stuff … like, say, how your city, state and country are run?

As Sulzberger said, media are all about the citizen’s right to know. And Thomas Jefferson consented: “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press.” The people of America need to know what was going on in order to govern themselves, and that some things — the media — need to be there to tell us.

The First Amendment exists to protect, among other things, the ability of the press to educate the public on public issues — not private ones — so the citizenry may make informed choices regarding their governance. If you don’t know what’s going on, you cannot possibly be a good citizen and fulfill your role as a citizen in the republic.

Want to fix America? Fix the media.