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PASSAGE III Edmund Burke called 'the Press - the Fourth Estate of the realm', I think he did not use his title for the Press thoughtlessly as social ruling group or class. The Three Estates or Realms is England are the Lord Spiritual i.e. the Bishops in the House of Lords, the Temporal i.e. other Lords and Commons i.e., the common people. The Press has been rightly called the Fourth Estate as it also constitutes a ruling group or class like the Lords and Common. It cannot be denied in a free country, that the Press exercises a good deal of influence in shaping public opinion and pointing out the weakness or defects of society or of government and, in general bringing to light all those good or bad things in society which would have otherwise remained unnoticed. The power is not limited or put under any check. The Press instead of being controlled by any one, controls life and thought of a nation. Hence, the Press constitutes an estate by itself. Obviously the power which the press in any country wields depends upon the number of newspaper readers. The opinions and comments of newspaper can influence the life of a nation only when they are read by people. Reading, in turn, requires that the general mass of people should be educated. Thus, the spread, of education determines the extent of the newspapers. Where readers are few, newspapers must necessarily be few. Their influence in the case, can extend, only to a small minority of population. In a country like India the percentage of literacy is very low and standard of journalism is not very high. So, the Press has to play the role of a teacher here
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