If Tocqueville Saw Our Press Today

What if Alexis de Tocqueville, the 19th-century thinker who warned about the fragility of democracy, could see our media landscape today? This is what I explored in today's Civility Dispatch.

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🎙️ Welcome to this special episode of the Cultivating Civility podcast—in today’s Civility Dispatch, we’re talking about freedom of the press—not as an abstract ideal, but as something that shapes our communities, our democracy, and our daily lives.

To understand where we are now, we need to look back nearly 200 years, to a Frenchman named Alexis de Tocqueville. If you’ve never heard of him, you’re not alone—but his insights into democracy may be more relevant today than ever.

Tocqueville was a political thinker, aristocrat and historian who traveled across America in the 1830s, studying why democracy was thriving here when it had failed elsewhere. His observations became the famous book Democracy in America, where he explored what made democracy work, what threatened it, and what might ultimately destroy it.

One of his biggest concerns? The press.

He saw it as a double-edged sword—an essential safeguard against tyranny, but also a source of distortion, division, and manipulation. He wrote that a free press was vital, but dangerous—not because it printed falsehoods, but because it shaped how people understood reality itself.

He warned that:

The liberty of the press does not affect political opinions alone, but it extends to all the opinions of men, and it modifies customs as well as laws.

He saw that a free press could be chaotic, reckless, and even inflammatory—but he also knew that the alternative was far worse.

What Would Tocqueville Say If He Saw Our Press Today?

Would he recognize the wild, decentralized press he once admired? Or would he see something more insidious—a media landscape where a handful of powerful corporations dictate what is acceptable to believe and what must be erased? Would he see a press that challenges power, or one that protects it, distorts for it, and even outright lies for it—only to be exposed, over and over again, without consequence?

Tocqueville warned us that the real threat wasn’t just censorship—it was manipulation. He feared not just the suppression of speech, but the slow, calculated shaping of public opinion itself.

And what would he say about local journalism?

He wrote that the press was most powerful when it was widespread, independent, and deeply rooted in local communities. He noted that in America, even the smallest towns had newspapers that connected people to their government, exposed corruption, and held officials accountable.

In America, there is scarcely a hamlet which has not its own newspaper... It may readily be imagined that neither discipline nor unity of design can be communicated to so multifarious a host.

But that world no longer exists.

Today, local journalism is dying. Small-town newspapers have vanished. City councils, school boards, and public hearings go uncovered. Corrupt officials operate in the shadows because no one is watching.

And what has filled the vacuum? Partisan rage. Sensationalism. Nationalized political battles that have nothing to do with our daily lives. Instead of knowing what’s happening at city hall, people are drowning in clickbait headlines, social media outrage, and misinformation designed to divide.

Even independent media, which should have been the answer, has too often fallen into the same trap—chasing clicks, fueling outrage, reinforcing bias instead of exposing truth.

Tocqueville saw it coming.

He warned that when people lose trust in the press, they don’t just stop reading—they stop engaging in democracy. They stop believing in shared truth. They retreat into factions, they abandon civic responsibility, and eventually, they give up on self-government altogether.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

Tocqueville warned us that when the press fails, democracy follows. That’s why renewing a strong, independent local press must be a top priority.

But in the meantime, each of us has a role to play in ensuring that factual, empowering information reaches our communities.

Since this podcast focuses on the local level, where we have the greatest power to affect change, here are three simple things you can do today to strengthen truth and accountability in your community:

1. Attend or Watch Local Government Meetings – City councils, school boards, public hearings—these decisions shape your daily life. Be there, take notes, and share what matters.

2. Turn Down the Temperature Online – Hold your neighbors to a higher standard. Challenge inflammatory or false claims, stop the spread of misinformation, and reject the politics of personal attacks, doxxing, and shaming.

   
   

3. Subscribe to a Local Newspaper – If your town still has an independent news source, support it financially. If not, find alternative sources and help fund real journalism.

Because if we want a press that serves the people, we have to support it, demand it, and be part of it.

Tocqueville warned us. The question is—will we listen?

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To hear Tocqueville himself on the “Liberty of the Press” tune into Chapter 11 of this audiobook version of Volume 1 of Democracy in America.