I wanted to post this front page, just to take a moment to reflect upon the work we do as journalists. I think we all feel a kinship with our colleagues in Annapolis, Maryland, whose newsroom fell under attack yesterday. We share in their grief, and we, as fellow human beings, stand amazed at their courage and tenacity to remain true to their mission and produce a newspaper for the next day.
I’d like to think I would respond with that same unflinching courage and clarity of purpose. Honestly, I don’t know, I cannot imagine, I find myself looking at this A1 and wondering how they all held it together. To me, it is both unfathomable and awe-inspiring.
It’s been a difficult road for journalists in recent years. According to Reporters Without Borders, last year was the most dangerous year ever for the world’s journalists. We have seen our SND colleagues imprisoned. We have a shattered business model resulting in layoffs and closings left and right. And a heightened rhetoric in which the president refers to the press as the “Enemy of the American people.”
I didn’t know until today that there was a Wikipedia page for killed American journalists. The list begins in 1837, with an abolitionist who was killed by a mob, and already is updated to include the events of yesterday. We can only hope the list ends there.