“The push and pull over what is on the record is one of journalism’s perennial battles. But those negotiations typically took place case by case, free from the red pens of press minders. Now, with a millisecond Twitter news cycle and an unforgiving, gaffe-obsessed media culture, politicians and their advisers are routinely demanding that reporters allow them final editing power over any published quotations.”

The New York Times’ Jeremy Peters shines a light into what’s ailing us: that we are moving farther and farther away from a free press, one that has established itself as a watchdog (at least in theory). Yes, we can criticize our government and our elected officials without fear of retaliation, but when our elected leaders are censoring what the media is quoting them as saying, we have a real problem on our hands. Led to a (though by all means, not necessarily “the”) logical conclusion, the electorate then does not get a true understanding of a politician and therefore cannot make informed decisions on whom to vote for. I wonder what kind of blowback, if any, this article produces.