Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin has published several bestselling books and his latest Unfreedom of the Press has already been #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list for several weeks. Unfreedom of the Press covers the history of journalism with a focus on how journalism evolved in the United States since the American Revolution.

Journalism, also referred to as “the press”, is protected by the U.S. Constitution. The freedom of the press is tied directly to our right of freedom of speech. In order to provide the general public with honest reports, pamphleteers, newspapers, television, websites, and all other news outlets are protected from punitive damages and punishment so long as they are reporting with a goal of honesty. Libelous “news” however is defamation and a civil wrong (which can lead to lawsuits).

In Unfreedom of the Press, Levin catalogs the history of journalism leading up to the current situation of news and reporting. Starting with pamphleteers pushing for the Revolution, Levin’s book is a new age call for awareness on how far the media has fallen in terms of honest and fair reporting.

Fake news is not a modern idea. For years major news reporting outlets have misled the public with poor, weakly sourced “news”. Most notably, as Unfreedom of the Press covers thoroughly, was the New York Times lack of coverage of the Holocaust. Levin explains this and many other poor or misleading reporting from major news outlets.

Moving into more current affairs, Unfreedom of the Press hashes out the mainstream media, 24-hour news cycle problem with creating news or “pseudo events”. These faulty news reports go like this: a poorly researched piece is published with a grossly bias skew. These pieces are picked up by other news outlets and reprinted, reposted, etc. Social media shares the news and by the time it is actually fact checked, the idea is planted in the public mind. This type of journalism is sloppy at best and dangerous depending on those involved.

Mark Levin’s book is a fast read and contains a lot of obvious examples and ideas. But Levin does an excellent job of covering the history of the press, the ideals of freedom of the press, and how far the press as fallen.

A truly free press may not be possible. But the high level of bias coupled with pseudo events is damaging to the country and is not what the Founding Fathers wanted. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press must be protected for a free society. Mark Levin’s Unfreedom of the Press is a must-read for anyone who believes this.