During the American Revolution, this fourth estate was crucial for the process of distributing information, with the medium being newspapers. This demand for information had carried on even after the American Revolution, where it was heavily utilized for ideological dispersion. News media plays an important role in keeping the populace notified, and actively engages in distributing the truth, which has brought to light various issues. A popular example being the exposing of President Nixon's criminal activities, which ultimately led to his resignation, showcasing the political capability of this fourth estate. More recently, news media and journalists have played an extremely huge role in exposing the illegal monitoring done by the NSA, where a large percentage of the population is closely surveilled, and their disclosed information is accessible by the government.