Ever since the first printing press came to America, the media have played an essential role in our history. Newspapers, pamphlets, books, and later radio and television, have been instrumental in making and breaking presidents, starting and ending wars, dictating manners and even morals, setting standards of style and taste, for better or for worse. Some of the media's achievements have been heroic, some of their activities have been scandalous, but in their entirety they have served as one of the most vital checks and balances in our nation, defying the efforts of leaders from George Washington onward to muzzle their free expression and standing today as virtually unique in the work for their independence and power.