Fifth Estate is any class or group in society other than the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), the middle class (Third Estate), and the press (Fourth Estate)[1]. It has been used to describe trade unions, the poor, organized crime, German propaganda and spies during World War II (by the French). It can also be used to describe media that sees itself in opposition to mainstream (Fourth Estate) media.
Nimmo and Combs assert that political pundits constitute a Fifth Estate.[2] Media researcher Stephen D. Cooper argues that bloggers are the Fifth Estate.[3] The American periodical Broadcasting once proudly proclaimed itself to be "The Fifth Estate" on its cover.[4]The Michigan Daily published a letter to the editor by Michael Kozlowski arguing that the concept behind the CNN YouTube presidential debates should be expanded to allow citizens to directly challenge the President and other elected officials on national cable news networks such as CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.[5]
There is a Canadian television newsmagazine called "the fifth estate" which airs on the English language television network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The name was chosen to highlight the program's determination to go beyond everyday news into original journalism.
