The free press is a constitutional right of citizens of the United States. The idea is we keep those in power accountable and people in turn keep us honest about what we write. We are not your enemy. At a journalism conference a speaker asked us why we were here, why are we journalists, and why do we continue to write when the number of people reading is dwindling. The answer was simple and striking. Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for. Journalists write not to please everyone, but to inform them. To ensure those who cannot speak for themselves have someone who can. Journalism doesn’t destroy democracy, it saves it. The moment this nation, or any nation for that matter, takes away a free press the moment we lose all freedom to speak out and spark change. The corrupt on either side need to be accountable for their actions. When anyone in any position of power, large scale or small scale, takes advantage and spreads false ideas someone must keep those in check. This goes for anyone in the country and it’s a journalists job to find and share the truth. And when a journalist spreads false quotes and stories it is the job of other journalist and citizens to hold them accountable. We are co-dependent on one another. The truth sets us free and makes it possible to constantly push forward. Journalists are playing a losing game with print media, but that doesn’t mean we won’t continue to share stories of triumph and defeat with all. Stories that inspire those who read and make those who were in the wrong face their mistakes. Without the freedom to write what we believe need to be known, we lose our history, we lose the power to find the truth and hold those in the wrong accountable, and most importantly we lose our democracy. The reason we can look back and find the names of black men and women who were lynched for doing nothing but walking in the wrong side of town is because of the press. The preservation of the events hundred of years ago are still around today because of newspapers. All the wrong doings and hidden heroes of history are preserved in print. A state run press determines not only the stories that are run, but also how those will be portrayed. The villians will be written as the rightful and those who are innocent are portrayed as guilty. The free press is one of the only reasons our country is still free and fighting for those who can’t. History will not judge us kindly if we lose the word of the people to the word of the government.