From what i have read so far, the author of
Mightier than the Sword Rodger Streitmatter, sounds like he thinks people are not using the media and journalism to its full potential. In the intro he talks about different events that have changed history and the way we see things all because of journalism. Events like the Revolution, abolition of slavery, and Watergate. In the first chapter he talks about what appears to be the two most influential journalists in history, Sam Adams, and Tom Paine. Without their words the revolution wouldn’t have started or kept going. Tom Paine provided words of encouragement like “These are the times that try men’s souls…the summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered” (pg 22). Without this words who knows if George Washington’s army would have won at Trenton. The author wants people to realize that words can change the way a country feels and change people’s opinions. As Thomas Jefferson stated in his letter to Tom Paine in 1792 “ Go on then in doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword “(Pg 5).
