In the current changing news media climate, it’s important to be reminded of the important role that a free “press” plays in our democracy.

Such an example was provided this week by the Army officers in charge at Fort Bragg, N.C.

After former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced plans to include a stop at Fort Bragg on her current book tour, officials at the fort grew concerned that her appearance might provide a forum that included verbal attacks on President Barack Obama. Their solution to this dilemma? Bar media coverage of the event.

“Fort Bragg, nor any other Army installation, cannot be used or appear to be used as an endorsing criticism of the commander in chief,” said base spokesman Thomas D. McCollum. “Because this book signing is turning into a political platform with the addition of media coverage, we are restricting the media coverage.”

Army officials seemed to be acknowledging that, by allowing Palin at the fort, they may have created a situation that would get them into trouble. So, instead of canceling the event or placing restrictions on Palin, they decided the safest thing would be to simply ban the news media. Their thinking apparently was that if something embarrassing happened, with no media on hand, at least no one would know about it.

It’s sort of like the tree falling in the woods when no one is there to hear it.

After protests were lodged by various news outlets, the Army relented and allowed the event to be covered. Palin didn’t make a formal speech at the event, but some members of the public did take advantage of their free speech rights by voicing their opposition to Obama’s policies.

Palin appeared, protests were lodged, but perhaps the most significant news coming out of this event was that representatives of the U.S. Army initially thought it was in their best interests to simply bar news media from a public event. They reached this conclusion not because of any national security concern, but because they were afraid that coverage of the event might reflect poorly on them, the Army or the nation.

Obviously, in a democracy that prohibits “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,” that isn’t a good enough reason. In America, those rights most often are championed by professional news media who seek to uphold the public’s right to know what their government is up to.

The Fort Bragg incident reminds us that, even as America’s news media evolve, we as a nation, must make sure their watchdog role isn’t lost.