fourth estate

fourth estate
fourth estate "the press," by 1824, and especially from 1831, British English. For the other three, see ESTATE (Cf. estate). Earlier the term had been applied in various senses that did not stick, including "the mob" (1752), "the lawyers" (1825). The extension to the press is perhaps an outgrowth of the former.
Hence, through the light of letters and the liberty of the press, public opinion has risen to the rank of a fourth estate in our constitution; in times of quiet and order, silent and still, but in the collisions of the different branches of our government, deciding as an umpire with unbounded authority. ["Memoir of James Currie, M.D.," 1831]
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[Newspapers] began to assume some degree of political importance, during the civil wars of the seventeenth century, in England; but it is not until within the last fifty years that they have become, -- as they are now justly styled, -- a Fourth Estate, exercising a more powerful influence on the public affairs of the countries in which they are permitted to circulate freely, than the other three put together. [Alexander H. Everett, "Address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Bowdoin College," 1834]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • fourth estate — fourth es tate n the fourth estate newspapers, news magazines, television and radio news, the people who work for them, and the political influence that they have = ↑press …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • fourth estate — n. [see ESTATE (sense 2)] [often F E ] journalism or journalists …   English World dictionary

  • fourth estate — This is an idiomatic way of describing the media, especially the newspapers …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • fourth estate — fourth′ estate′ n. jou why (often caps.) the journalistic profession or its members; the press • Etymology: 1830–40 …   From formal English to slang

  • Fourth Estate — The term Fourth Estate refers to the press, both in its explicit capacity of advocacy and in its implicit ability to frame political issues. The term goes back at least to Thomas Carlyle in the first half of the 19th century.Novelist Jeffrey… …   Wikipedia

  • fourth estate — noun the press, including journalists, newspaper writers, photographers • Hypernyms: ↑estate of the realm, ↑estate, ↑the three estates * * * ↑fourth estate * * * the ˌfourth eˈstate f33 [fourth estate] …   Useful english dictionary

  • fourth estate — noun Journalism or journalists considered as a group; the Press. What is more barbarous than to see a nation [...] where justice is lawfully denied him, that hath not wherewithall to pay for it; and that this merchandize hath so great credit,… …   Wiktionary

  • fourth estate — Synonyms and related words: AP, Associated Press, Fleet Street, Reuters, UPI, United Press International, advice, book publishing, broadcast journalism, communications, communications industry, information, intelligence, journalism, magazine… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • fourth estate — /fɔθ əsˈteɪt/ (say fawth uhs tayt) noun the public press, the newspapers or journalists collectively. {coined by Sir Edmund Burke, British politician (1729–1797), who maintained that the Fourth Estate or press gallery was more important than the… …  

  • Fourth Estate (disambiguation) — Fourth Estate is a traditional term for the press; it may also refer to the mob (as in mob rule) or the proletariat.Fourth Estate may also refer to: * The Fourth Estate (novel), by Jeffrey Archer * Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins… …   Wikipedia

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