The Role of Journalism in Modern America:

The obligations of the Media/Press in their role of the 4th estate

A speech by Ralph R. Zerbonia, on the occasion of his being inducted into the Inaugural Class of
The Youngstown Press Club Hall of Fame. September 29, 2021.
He founded the Youngstown Business Journal and became its first publisher in 1984. He has
been involved in numerous startups and is today working in the realm of Mixed Realities.

Good Evening,
I’d like to congratulate the other members of this inaugural class on their inclusion and thank
them for the services they have given throughout their lives for our community.
I’d like to Thank the members of The Youngstown Press Club for bestowing such an honor upon
me. I am grateful for the recognition of the value of The Business Journal to our community the
very same value which was our goal in its creation.
I have always been proud of how this single publication has transformed my valley, my home. It
is what it was created to be – A force for Good in our community.
I’d like to recognize my family seated here My brother Angelo and his wife Beth, My Sister
Regina, Sister Jayne and her husband Dave and my sister Cindi.
I thank them for coming to share this event with me. Unfortunately, my wife of 48 years,
Bonnie, has lost a great deal of her mobility due to arthritis and was unable to attend tonight. A
shame as she more than anyone, is responsible for any of the better parts of who I am. I love
her and am grateful for her being my wife.
I’d like to speak for the remainder of my time to the role of journalism in a Modern America.
Specifically, the obligations of the media/press in their role of the 4th estate.
A Journalist has several obligations and responsibilities that they follow, but chief among them
is getting the truth to people.
The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics enjoins Journalists to seek truth and
report it, never intentionally distorting information. And to recognize a special obligation to
serve as a watchdog over public affairs and government. The obligation on behalf of us all, is to
pierce the veils of disingenuousness, framing and spin and not fall victim to the error traps of
false equivalencies and both sides do it thinking when reporting.
This responsibility to truth to the people in affairs of the public and government is the
membership fee to the 4th Estate, a term coined by British historian Thomas Carlyle in reference
to the role and power of the free press.
Among the many functions of the 4th Estate is a critical responsibility: Preventing the public
from being misled by some statement or action of an individual or organization.
These responsibilities are grounded in the extraordinary grant of privilege of the 1st
Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of The United States of America.
The genius of our founders is that they set up checks & balances, that are even informal and
carry a dynamic that cannot be disobeyed.
Today, right now, our country, its Constitution and its form of democracy are under attack from
within, the greatest attack on its foundations since the civil war.
Free speech has been weaponized to make lies, distortions, untruths and disingenuity a mode
of operation augmented with words like fake news and enemies of the people when talking
about the media. This is an intentional strategy; Not to disagree with a particular story or your
reporting but done with the intent of undermining the public’s faith in and destroying the
credibility of the reporting of truth by the 4th Estate.
Our founders and our current citizenry count on the 4th estate to keep us from tyranny by giving
us the truth, not carrying the water of the disingenuous or liar. When you fail to tell the truth
by allowing an individual or group to use the media to transmit disingenuous positions you fail
us all.
I believe we need to reform our lives to make two main Character traits supreme: Integrity and
Courtesy. A person with integrity acts with honesty, honor, and truthfulness. Courtesy is both a
habit of politeness and an attitude of respect for the person. Imagine a world where these
character traits were the norm, where honesty and goodwill were the usual encounter.
These are character traits that are consciously adopted and practiced by individuals not groups.
Like most of what’s good for you, when practiced you find your life getting better.

My final point tonight relates to these character traits and all of our obligations to The United
States.
The word enemy has been increasingly pointed at Americans by Americans because of their
complete disagreement on political issues. Worse than the word enemy is the thought and
thinking that an entire group of Americans that believes a certain way are an immediate mortal
threat that may require preemptive violence.
The most American (in flavor) of sayings is the proof of the wrongness of this enemy thinking,
that saying is “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,”
That’s the essence of what our other 1st amendment rights are all about, Free Speech, the
freedom of and from religion, the freedom to assemble and tell the government to go to hell,
and the freedom to petition for anything of your government.
Our national motto at our nation’s birth, E Pluribus Unum, was selected by John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson (of the committee they made up, it was the only item
which made it out of committee that was not rejected by the Congress) and stands prominent
on the Great Seal of The United States. Out of Many one. The symbolic metaphor of the times
for E Pluribus Unum was a hand holding a bouquet of flowers, individually all different, with
many colors and styles, but together a beautiful bouquet. E Pluribus Unum.
We must all recognize that our true enemy is the party trying to convince you that another
American is your enemy because of their beliefs, because of their style, because of any part of
them.
In my America We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights. It is with bedrock principles
such as these that grow Integrity in a person. Cultivate it with the right ideas and then make it a
practice in your life and work. (and) By these lights identify the real patriots and become one of
them.

I thank you for the honor you have bestowed and hope that you all remember that this is one
of the greatest places in the United States to live in. It’s given me and my wife a wonderful life
and we thank everybody here for having participated in it. Thank You.

The author may be contacted at Ralph@UniverseCentral.com

© 2021 Ralph R. Zerbonia, may be reproduced, complete, with attribution.