The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides that: 

Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble...

The right of free speech and of a free press is a very sacred one, and its maintenance is one of the chief safeguards of democracy.  It is the means by which public opinion is formed and made known; and public opinion is one of the chief means of control in a democracy.  It controls the conduct of individuals, and it controls the actions of government.  The representatives and leaders of the people in the government seek constantly to know what public opinion is, and the public press is one of the chief channels through which they may find out.  On the other hand, leaders and parties seek to form public opinion, to lead the people to think in certain ways and to support certain ideas.  The press affords an effective means for doing this.

PROPAGANDA

It is easy to see that both good leaders and bad leaders may thus create public opinion, that both good and bad ideas may be spread through the press.  During the war we heard much about German propaganda.  This means that ideas were systematically spread to create a public opinion favorable to the German cause.  It was done largely by rumors, springing from no one knows where, and spreading by word of mouth.  But it was also accomplished through the newspapers, by news items and stories that appeared to be true and that were published innocently enough in most cases, but that afterward were found to be false.

THE DEVELOMENT OF PUBLIC OPINION

It is not to be supposed that all propaganda is harmful or dangerous.  There is propaganda in good causes, or on both sides of a disputed question.  By this means public opinion is educated.  When the peace conference at Paris proposed a plan for a League of Nations, it was at once taken up for discussion through the newspapers and magazines.  People who believed in the idea organized a campaign of publicity to support the plan and to create a public opinion for it, while those opposed to it were equally active in their attempt to create a public opinion against it.  In this way the people became informed regarding the question, provided they read both sides of the discussion and not one only.  Leaders in the community may conduct propaganda through the newspapers in behalf of better schools, better roads, woman suffrage, prohibition, or any other cause.