Considering yesterday’s event in Annapolis, I feel compelled to tell you how proud I am to be a part of Indiana’s newspaper family.
None of us go into journalism with the thought that there could be danger involved. We do it because we want to make a difference in our community. Whether it’s telling the story of a child facing a life-threatening disease that sparks a community’s outpouring of love or explaining the ramifications of state legislation on the lives of Hoosiers, newspapers inform and educate their community.
Journalists are traditionally underpaid and overworked, but it’s a labor of love. And journalists are a key component to a vibrant democracy. It’s the reason our Constitution wasn’t ratified until the Bill of Rights was included. Literally, the First among those key amendments was the freedom of speech, press, religion, petition and assembly.
We now live in strange times, where politicians attack the press. Who could have envisioned a president calling us “the enemy of the people.”
But journalists persevere. Despite the fatalities and devastated newsroom, Annapolis’ Capital Gazette staff put out a newspaper to its readers today. The staff worked from a parking lot in an adjacent garage to their offices to make sure they met the normal press deadline.
How can you not be proud to be a part of a profession with that level of dedication to its readers.
Thank you for being a newspaper person.
Stephen Key
Executive Director and General Counsel
Hoosier State Press Association
