Jefferson: Newspapers are most important

 “...were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. but I should mean that every man should receive those papers & be capable of reading them.” 

(Source: https://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/1289?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template#X3184736)

Of course, Jefferson said that in 1787, years after the country was founded, and centuries before a mass media came to exist. I wonder if he would still believe that today, with mass media so prevalent?