What Does Fourth Estate Mean?

Fourth estate is referred to the journalists as a group or the public press. Such a group is termed fourth estate as it is a group or power considered to check the other three powers of the state- the legislative, the executive and judiciary. The media is considered to be the watchdog of a country, constantly keeping an over the social and political spheres. Specifically, the Fleet Street (collective name for the newspapers and magazines, especially in Britain) is known as fourth estate.

Photojournalism that mainly projects a story through the use of photographs is also categorized as a fourth estate. Journalism that exaggerates news by exploiting and distorting the powers available, only to create sensational news, is termed fourth estate. This is done to attract more readers.