This is the 80th annual observance of National Newspaper Week. Naturally, I’m hyper-aware of the importance and value of newspapers and journalists all year long. If I wasn’t, I would need to be in a different line of work, obviously.
But this week, conversations with friends and acquaintances have brought the work we strive to do every week to the forefront in a different way. One of those things we strive to do as journalists is to give the voiceless a voice.
What do you mean, silly editor? This is America, the land of freedom of speech, where everyone has a voice.
Do we, though?
I know business owners who are afraid to express their opinions publicly for fear they’ll lose business.
I know employees who are afraid to speak out about corruption and injustice and harassment in the workplace because if they do they’ll lose their jobs.
And I know friends and family who are afraid to speak up about mental illness, or domestic violence, or addiction for fear they’ll be shunned, rejected and judged.
So who tells those stories? Who gives those people a voice?
Journalists do, when those folks find the courage to talk to us.
When those stories are told through the journalistic narrative, public perceptions begin to change, and when perceptions change, policies eventually change.
Perhaps that’s why the people with the most power and privilege so often want journalists to stay silent… They fear change more than anyone, because change is likely to shift that balance of power and privilege.
