Per USA governance structure, the first social and civil estate is the Executive branch; the second is Legislative, and the third is Judicial. They are designed to provide checks and balances for administering justice among the people of the USA. The other estate is not a governing branch, but an essential feature for maintaining accountability. The Fourth estate is the Media. This is a diverse phenomena because it includes more than the Press (newspaper, TV and radio outlets), but also involves every medium of communication–Internet, Cyberspace entities, local voices of school, church and civic stakeholders.
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What are your thoughts concerning the Fourth estate? What do you suggest we do to “keep” it objective and helpful for information, inspiration and those interested in social relationship and institutional building and rebuilding?