By Steve Brawner,© 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Here’s the thing about polls: They never tell you everything, but they often tell you something.

Such is the case with a recent Ipsos poll where 85 percent agreed that “Freedom of the press is essential for American democracy.” At the same time, 29 percent, and 48 percent of Republicans, also agreed that “the news media is the enemy of the American people.”

In other findings, 26 percent of Americans, and 43 percent of Republicans, agreed that “the president should have the authority to close news outlets engaged in bad behavior.” Thirteen percent of respondents, including 23 percent of Republicans, agreed that “President Trump should close down mainstream news outlets, like CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times.” Another 3 percent of Americans didn’t know.

There are several reasons this poll doesn’t tell you everything. First, most people decline to participate in polls. They’re busy and suspicious of phone calls from strangers. Who does take those calls? Disproportionately, people with an axe to grind and time on their hands.

Second, polls don’t necessarily measure what a respondent actually believes. The questions can be leading or misleading, and they’re typically followed by multiple choice answers leaving little room for nuance. Respondents might be distracted, inattentive or unfamiliar with the issues.  Some may purposely answer untruthfully.

Moreover, respondents often don’t answer the question that was asked. Someone who is frustrated with the news media might choose a negative response to any question about the media as a way of expressing that frustration. Once they’ve answered one question negatively, momentum builds and they’ll probably continue riding that train of thought.

For all those reasons, this poll falls short of being alarming. But it is concerning.

No one ever should have expected the news media to be perfectly fair and unbiased and never make a mistake. What it does is imperfectly check and balance other powerful American institutions, which likewise check and balance its power. It does this by informing Americans about what those institutions are doing. Without it, the only sources of information often would be the institutions themselves.

Unfortunately, while 85 percent of Americans understand the importance of having a free press as an ideal, they’re not all ready to defend the flawed free press they have. Twenty-six percent of respondents said one person, the president, should have the authority to close a news outlet because of “bad behavior,” which is quite vague. Whatever it means, it certainly should not be done because the president and his/her supporters don’t like that outlet’s coverage, be it CNN, The Washington Post, or The New York Times.

It can be frustrating for any of us when a news outlet is critical of a president we might support – particularly if we think it’s unfairly critical. It feels like an attack on us. But giving one president the power to shut down a news outlet gives all future presidents that same power. Today, it might be President Trump taking CNN off the air, and some Americans might like that. But four years from now, another president might silence Fox News. Or this newspaper.

Finally, the high numbers of respondents agreeing that the “the news media is the enemy of the American people” – two things about that.

First, it shows the power of the president, doesn’t it? That’s exactly what he’s been saying. Presidents should consider carefully their words, because they carry a lot of weight.

Second, no, the news media is not the enemy of the American people. It is one of many flawed but necessary institutions, composed of many diverse individuals.

I am part of it, and I am not your enemy – or “the” enemy.

The enemy we should fear most is our own lack of commitment to the principles that have helped America remain a free country. If it ever stops being one, it probably won’t happen because of an invading outside force.

It will happen because, little by little, Americans voluntarily gave away our freedoms to the powerful.

So no, we don’t want presidents shutting down news outlets they don’t like. Or that we don’t like.

Really, we don’t.