The primary reason our founders felt it so important for us to have freedom of the press is simple. It’s imperative that our press be free to criticize the government’s action without fear of reprisal. Not that reprisal isn’t still a fear, but government sanctioned reprisal isn’t. This is as it should be, more or less (there shouldn’t be any reprisals, sanctioned or otherwise, but some folks are just jerks).
In return, people expect an unbiased press to give them the facts and allow us to be an informed populace. That just ain’t what’s happening though.