Bunreacht na hÉireann may have been adopted as far back as 1937, but it still provides in Article 40 that, subject to public order and morality, the State guarantees liberty for the exercise of the right of citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions. Free media have always been taken as one of the essentials of an open and democratic society. One of the founding fathers of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, asserted on the principle of free speech, "If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." That pronouncement, while understandable when viewed from the perspective of the Revolutionary War in America towards the end of the 18th century, is perhaps today somewhat less reasonable, given the way in which so much of the newspaper industry is now sensitive to market forces, concerned as much with profit, shareholder value and market share as it is with the dissemination of what can be termed "news" and opinions. However, it must also be said with some regret, and I hope I will not be accused as I have been on occasion of shooting the messenger, that there has been an element of dumbing down of much of the print media and, to a lesser extent, the broadcast media. Nevertheless, our courts in recent times have upheld the role of the media as important in holding up a mirror to society and as upholding the citizen's right to be informed.