The unfettered flow of objective, bias-free news and information, available to everyone, is essential to having both a well-informed electorate and ultimately a successful democracy.

Unfortunately, this is a fleeting notion today in America, as manipulation by the mass media currently shapes everything we read, hear and watch. We are undeniably a grossly misinformed nation.

In fact, a recent study conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University determined that people who watch no news at all could answer more questions about international current events than those who watch cable news outlets like Fox News and MSNBC.

Why do you think this is the case? Is it because we’re lazy? Indifferent? Fearful? Busy? Unaware? All of the above?

Actually, none of these bear the responsibility for fostering a country that runs on ignorance. 

In reality, the chief reason why Americans don’t have the slightest clue about what’s going on in the world is because of people like billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump.

Indeed, Trump, a hardcore conservative and one of the most outspoken critics of the Barack Obama administration, often finds himself the center of media attention.

Whether he’s insinuating that he might run for president, declaring that Obama is not an American citizen or simply sporting that outrageous hairstyle, Trump is adept at inserting himself within the focal point of the news cycle.

Last week, however, “The Donald” made headlines in a different way when New York Magazine reported that Trump had been holding meetings about possibly buying the New York Times Co.

While it’s unlikely the Sulzberger family, who owns the company, would relinquish The New York Times to Trump, his newfound desire to write the news demonstrates a fundamental insight into the modern right-wing psyche, which is obsessed — more than anything else — with power.

Trump’s motives for wanting to acquire the Times are blatantly obvious: by taking one of the most read newspapers in the world, Donald would have an effective means for transforming our national discourse to align with that of his own conservative ideology.

Put in simpler terms, Trump would try to use the Times as a propaganda machine, seeking to manipulate viewers’ positions on contentious subjects by publishing material that contains inherent bias, exploiting the difference between perception and reality.

The scary thing is that if Trump does somehow manage to pull this acquisition off, he could have a legitimate shot at influencing national consensus.

Take, for example, global media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News, a news program showing to contain so much mistruth and “spin” that the more viewers are exposed to Fox News, the further misinformed they would be, according to a study by World Public Opinion.

People like Murdoch and Trump serve the powerful interests and individuals that own them.

Many of these interests profit from the ignorance that Fox helps to proliferate by purposely deceiving the American electorate, thereby tilting the scales of public opinion.

Though the Sulzberger family probably won’t sell the Times to Trump, it is nevertheless imperative that we transform how we receive our news and information.

Given that our nation is polarized at this moment in time, it is important that we have independent, honest sources of information.

The Republic cannot function properly if voters are casting ballots based in dishonesty.