text version
Thomas Carlyle
first use of the term “fourth estate.”
On Heroes and Hero Worship (1841)
“Burke said there were
Three Estates in Parliament;
but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder ,
there sat a Fourth Estate more important far
than they all. It is not a figure of speech,
or a witty saying; it is a literal fact…
[a journalist]
speaking now
to the whole nation
becomes a power,
a branch of government,
with inalienable weight
in law-making,
in all acts of
authority.
It matters not
what rank he has, what
revenues or garnitures.
The requisite thing is that
he have a tongue
to which others will listen;
this & nothing more
is requisite.”
[The term Fourth Estate refers to the
news-reporting community —
print, broadcast & internet — both in its
explicit capacity of advocacy and in its
implicit ability to frame political issues. ]
aidsoversixty 