“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” That was a question posed by the Roman poet Juvenal. The translation is familiar to many Americans as “Who watches the watchmen?” While the author applied his inquiry to marital fidelity, there is a long usage of the query concerning politics and power. We empower rulers and law enforcement agents to restrain evil and to keep a wary eye upon those who break faith with their fellow citizens. But how can we be sure that those we invest with authority will use it to its intended purpose?
The question has risen to the fore in a slightly different context in recent years. When social media exploded into our lives about 20 years ago and rapidly became a normal part of everyday existence, it contributed to a sharp decline in the monopoly mass media had over the distribution of information.
The revolutionary changes began with the advent of internet publishing such as The Drudge Report (which exposed the Monica Lewinsky scandal the mainstream media decided not to cover), picked up steam with blogging of the type that derailed Dan Rather’s storied career when bloggers picked apart the CBS anchorman’s attack on President George W. Bush’s military service, and then accelerated into the stratosphere with social media as the ultimate way to rapidly disseminate ideas and information. All of this was accompanied by a decline in the audiences, prestige, and control possessed by the existing structure of newspapers and broadcast television networks.
Click Here To Read More (Originally Published at World Magazine)
Hunter (J.D., Ph.D.) is the provost and dean of faculty at North Greenville University in South Carolina. He is the author of The End of Secularism, Political Thought: A Student’s Guide, and The System Has a Soul. His work has appeared in a wide variety of other books and journals. He is formally affiliated with Touchstone, the Journal of Markets and Morality, the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, and the Land Center at Southwestern Seminary.