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  ...men had the rack. Now they have the press. That is an improvement certainly. But still it is very bad, and wrong, and demoralising. Somebody--was it Burke?--called journalism the fourth estate. That was true at the time, no doubt. But at the present moment it really is the only estate. It has eaten up the other three. The Lords Temporal say nothing, the Lords Spiritual have nothing to say, and the House of Commons has nothing to say and says it. We are dominated by Journalism. In America, the President reigns for four years, and journalism governs for ever and ever.   Fortunately in America Journalism has carried its authority to the grossest and most brutal extreme. As a natural consequence it has begun to create a spirit of revolt. People are amused by it, or disgusted by it, according to their temperaments. But it is no longer the real force it was. It is not seriously treated. In England, Journalism, not, except in a few well-known instances, having been carried to such excesses of brutality, is still a great factor, a really remarkable...   Wilde, Oscar

Source: OSCAR WILDE, The Soul of Man Under Socialism, The Works of Oscar Wilde, ed. G. F. Maine, p. 1033 . · Excerpt from The Soul of Man under Socialism · This quote is tagged President · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

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