根据最近的一项研究，一般美国人每天花约8小时使用印刷和电子媒体 — 在家里，在办公室和乘坐汽车时。 这个总数包括四小时看电视，三小时听收音机，半小时听录制的音乐，另外半小时看报纸。
信息在美国社会的核心作用可以追溯到美国宪法的制定者所坚持的一个根本信念：知情的人们是自己自由的最强大的守护者。 制宪者体现了“宪法第一修正案”中的这一假设，部分这样写道“国会不得制定法律……限制言论自由或新闻自由”。这一条款的推论是，新闻媒体作为政府行为监督者，并呼吁关注官方的不当行为和对个人权利的侵犯。
美国媒体今天通常被称为“第四权”，这一称号表明新闻媒体与“宪法”设立的其他政府部门具有同等地位。 新闻媒体，或“第四权”，作为美国民主的守护者起着至关重要的作用。 这一作用受到1789年通过的“美国宪法第一修正案”的保障，该修正案规定国会不得颁布任何限制新闻自由的法律。
自从第一份报纸于1690年在马萨诸塞州波士顿出版后，美国媒体走过了漫长的道路。在50年内，杂志也开始出现在美国的几个主要城市。 在20世纪初商业电台的出现结束了印刷品在美国的媒体垄断，使全国以至于后来的全球观众获得前所未有的现场音频节目。 电视，一种更强大的媒介，在第二次世界大战后不久出现。 其他媒体对抗着那些关于他们会衰落的预测，而变得多样化，与电视的绝对性吸引力相抗争。 卫星技术让美国电视网络，特别是有线网络，能够传达到世界各地的海外观众。 在数字技术进步和计算机、电话和有线电视日益趋同的推动下，互动媒体代表着20世纪末和21世纪初的主要趋势。

综合
新闻自由
媒体道德
媒体与新技术
媒体奖励和赠款

新闻自由
广播媒体
报纸，杂志和新闻通讯社及门户
新闻机构
新闻记者的资源

The average American, according to a recent study, spends about eight hours a day with the print and electronic media — at home, at work, and traveling by car. This total includes four hours watching television, three hours listening to radio, a half hour listening to recorded music, and another half hour reading the newspaper.
The central role of information in American society harks back to a fundamental belief held by the framers of the U.S. Constitution: that a well-informed people is the strongest guardian of its own liberties. The framers embodied that assumption in the First Amendment to the Constitution, which provides in part that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.” A corollary to this clause is that the press functions as a watchdog over government actions and calls attention to official misdeeds and violations of individual rights.
The U.S. media today is frequently known as the Fourth Estate, an appellation that suggests the press shares equal stature with the other branches of government created by the Constitution. The press, or “Fourth Estate” plays a vital role as a guardian of U.S. democracy. That role is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789, stipulating that Congress not enact any laws abridging freedom of the press.
U.S. media have traveled a long road since the first newspaper was published in Boston, Massachusetts in 1690. Within 50 years, magazines also began appearing in several major American cities. The advent of commercial radio at the beginning of the 20th century ended print’s monopoly of the media in America, giving nationwide and, later, global audiences unprecedented access to live audio programs. Television, an even more powerful medium, entered the scene shortly after World War II. Defying predictions of their decline, the other media have diversified to confront television’s dominant appeal. Satellite technology has allowed U.S. TV networks, especially cable networks, to reach overseas audiences anywhere on the globe. Interactive media, fueled by the advance of digital technology and the growing convergence of the computer, telephone and cable television, represent the principal trend of the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries.
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