A partisan press is not evil. It can be beneficial, so long as journalists act responsibly and the government doesn’t squelch particular viewpoints. Partisan reporting — what one excludes is often as important as what he or she includes — should no longer hide, as it has been doing for some time, behind a disguise called “objectivity.” With an issue-driven and/or partisan press, viewers, listeners, and readers will know what they are watching, hearing, and reading.

During the early republic and antebellum eras, partisan media outlets abounded. The names say it all — Bristol County Democrat and Essex County Whig, for instance. There were issue-driven papers, too, such as William Garrison’s abolitionist publication The Liberator. Partisan media, it seems, were considered evil only when they undermined the powerful’s objectives.

In 1798, the U.S. Congress debated whether to silence the press, with the passage of the Sedition Bill, fearing editors who expressed views contrary to ongoing war efforts. The Federalists, the party in power, wanted to silence the Aurora, the Republican paper, for spreading what Connecticut Federalist John Allen called “shameless falsehoods” that were “hostile to free government and genuine liberty, and of course to the welfare of the country.” The Sedition Bill’s language was alarming. It suggested fining and/or imprisoning those who spoke anything “libelous, scandalous, or tending to defame the government or its officer.”

During the Sedition Bill debate, North Carolina’s Nathaniel Macon remarked that Americans comprised a politically aware citizenry who cherished freedom of the press. Such a citizenry would “suspect something is not right when free discussion is feared by government. They know the truth is not afraid of investigation.” Americans have as much right to discuss politics as the men whom they elect “to do their business.”

The national government did not have the right to limit the press, Macon continued, and he reminded his Federalist counterparts that Cobbott’s, the Federalist paper, was as culpable as the Republican Aurora. He then spoke of freedom of the press, read aloud the First Amendment, and asked: “How can so plain language be misunderstood or interpreted into consistency with this bill before us?”

Such partisan reporting started disappearing during the Mexican-American War. In 1846, newspaper owners and editors created The Associated Press (AP). The cooperative helped cut the costs of gathering worldwide news and thereby helped provide more information for subscribers. A byproduct of this venture was “objective” reporting; the AP had to sell its stories across the nation to all papers. AP reporting excluded overt partisanship. By 1900, “objective” reporting was mainstream.

Today, with the advent of technology (i.e., the Web and Twitter) helping reduce the costs of individuals gathering news, media are once again at a crossroads. Mainstream media are not needed as much anymore; they serve as ancillary sources for many who get their news via cable or from online outlets. Partisan reporting is making a comeback.

Sometimes, watching partisan cheerleaders such as Sean Hannity on Fox or Rachel Maddow on MSNBC can be nauseating. It’s still interesting to note how each commentator interprets events. While Hannity called for investigations into ACORN, for instance, Maddow defended the organization. While Hannity interviews Karl Rove on economic bailouts, Maddow interviews Howard Dean.

Try it sometime. You may find the channel flipping interesting. Here’s a warning, though: At times, when opposing views are presented, your stomach will remind you what you had for lunch.

But as Nathaniel Macon, a defender of a partisan press and the press in general, said in a congressional debate concerning the Federalist and Republican papers, he subscribed to both because he needed one to counteract the lies of the other. A partisan press is a good thing — and is as American as the First Amendment.

Dr. Troy Kickler is director of the North Carolina History Project (www.northcarolinahistory.org).