Project Gutenberg 2006-03-19 Public domain in the USA. 212 Belloc, Hilaire 1870 1953 Belloc, Joseph Hilaire Pierre Belloc, H. The Free Press E-text prepared by Thierry Alberto, Richard J. Shiffer, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team "The Free Press" by Hilaire Belloc is a political essay written in the early 20th century. The work critiques the contemporary capitalist press, arguing that it distorts information, misleads public opinion, and consolidates power among a wealthy few. Belloc advocates for the significance of a free press as a means to uncover and disseminate the truth. At the start of the essay, Belloc dedicates his work to a friend and reflects on the role of independent media, particularly the papers "The New Age" and "The New Witness," as forces for truth in a landscape dominated by corrupt journalism. He discusses how the great capitalist press arose alongside capitalism itself, detailing its evolution and various corruptions. Belloc emphasizes the necessity of truthful reporting and the ill effects of a press that prioritizes advertising revenue over integrity, ultimately laying the foundation for his argument that the free press can create political reform and public awareness despite facing serious obstacles. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 56.2 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en Journalism -- Corrupt practices Freedom of the press PN Text Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches Category: Politics Category: Journalism/Media/Writing 153580 2025-08-07T13:56:18.181541 text/html 155114 2006-03-19T13:45:24 text/html 126014 2025-08-07T13:56:23.136501 application/epub+zip 125936 2025-08-07T13:56:19.935490 application/epub+zip 111509 2025-08-07T13:56:18.810498 application/epub+zip 218422 2025-08-07T13:56:25.560495 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 192995 2025-08-07T13:56:22.417494 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 154699 2022-09-08T14:14:18.395837 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 136395 2025-08-07T13:56:17.651494 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 136163 2006-03-19T13:39:04 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 136171 2006-03-19T13:39:04 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20453 2025-08-07T13:56:25.688466 application/rdf+xml 8666 2025-08-07T13:56:19.346605 image/jpeg 2547 2025-08-07T13:56:19.099494 image/jpeg 50975 2006-03-19T13:39:04 application/octet-stream application/zip 70484 2006-03-19T13:45:34 application/octet-stream application/zip 50970 2006-03-19T13:39:04 application/octet-stream application/zip 117791 2025-08-07T13:56:18.196533 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia