Unchecked digital media is weakening the Fourth Estate

Eighteenth century British politician Edmund Burke is credited with coining the term Fourth Estate in reference to the role of the media/press in the power game of politics.

- 

It is derived from the European feudal system in which power was exercised by the nobility, the clergy and the lowest rank, the commoners.

The three estates were represented in the British parliament, but Burke, in a speech, acknowledged the reporters' gallery as the seat of a "Fourth Estate more important far than them all".

Time has obviously changed the world beyond what Burke would perhaps struggle to comprehend today, but the role of the media has more or less remained the same despite efforts by the powerful to muzzle free speech.

The greatest change that has affected traditional media has been the digitalisation of the space, which has brought with it a devastating blow to the business end.