For those who might want more of Mill… I was struck by the “and even” phrase in a sentence about the necessary “conditions for the formation and propagation of a public opinion.” Such, he says, “required the press, and even the newspaper press, the real equivalent, though not in all respects an adequate one, of the Pnyx and the Forum.”

Also, in the Stead piece (“instead”?), I find this an interesting note on the trend to corporate-chain media and the decline in “local” journalism:

“A newspaper must ‘palpitate with actuality;’ it must be a mirror reflecting all the ever-varying phases of life in the locality. Hence it represents a district as no member can, for, whereas he may be a stranger, selected at a crisis to say ditto to Mr. Gladstone or to Lord Salisbury on some issue five years dead and gone, the newspaper… is a page from the book of the life of the town in which it appears, a valuable transcript of yesterday’s words, thoughts, and deeds.”