The News: The Light of the World?

In early 2017, less than a month after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the president of the United States, the Washington Post adopted a new slogan: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” There is of course a long tradition that sees a free and independent press as essential to a healthy democracy and the common good. In our postfact culture, moreover, paeans to the importance of the press have grown increasingly emphatic.

And for good reason: the media can host a thoughtful, informed conversation around the issues of our day, and such a conversation does indeed serve the common good. Yet,…