An Informed Republic

In the echo chamber of our modern information society, and with many newspapers vanishing, how can people become better informed?

With no monarch to rule over the fledgling nation, America's founders realized that our system of self-government requires the public to be informed ? or their bold experiment in democracy would collapse. They established the postal system in part to circulate newspapers. They planned public schools and universities to promote civic awareness and virtuous citizens. But today, many citizens are disengaged, confused and have low awareness about how our democracy functions.

Written and produced by David Freudberg in association with WGBH / Boston.