Sarah Muir
MSM Class of 2018
Managing Editor 2017-2018

(9/2018) We seem to have everything at our fingertips. We have grown into a culture fixated on the search for knowledge and information. The world has sped forward and the ways in which we share information has changed at an equally fast pace. Social media seemed like the answer to that desire to know and connect with the world around us; to share the news in our own corners of the world--how the world, and all in it, has affected our lives and the lives of those that touch us. And we have. Today we have access to more knowledge of the world than ever before and are learning that such an expansive capability has severe drawbacks. Since anyone can report their news to the captive audience that lies in the palm of their hands, the world has become a loud place, full of uncertainty and distrust.

It seems that in the recent months the blame has fallen on reputable journalist and to a greater degree, the free press itself. Free press is the cornerstone of a free society. The press has a responsibility as gatekeeper and observer to inform and educate the public in matters on local, state, national and international platforms. However, we the people are told by those that apparently know more than us, that the press cannot be trusted. The discussion has risen in volume, to the point in which the free press is being villainized. This should give everyone pause, make everyone feel uncomfortable because press is the voice of the people. If we are told that we cannot trust our own voices, then who are we being asked to trust.

I do not think it would be radical of me to say that the major broadcasters of the news are polarized. The society we are building in voice and action is not black and white. It is red and blue. These two labels are used in both descriptions of praise and in deep derision. Even now, I am keeping the lines I am drawing unclear. I am hesitant to write in a way that can be construed as being too "red" or too "blue", because we have become sensitive to this bias. We trust the voices that agree with us, that shade the world in the color we like while personally labeling the others as "false", "fake" and detrimental. I do it all the time. As much as I try to keep my news sources as variegated as possible, I roll my eyes at headlines that do not fit within my perception of what I think to be true. I know others do the same, however, I also know that free press is a privilege not to be overlooked. The only person to censor my words, is me; now, I am responsible for them, of course, but I have the right to implement the free press to share both what is right and what is wrong in the society in which I live. Free press is not an enemy, it is a tool in the hands of the people. Free press cannot not be limited. It can, though, be charged with the responsibility to truth and the public interest.

Currently, I do not consider myself to be a journalist, that is not my business. Although, I have written for an excellent local newspaper for the past four years; small articles about my time in college, with a few opinion pieces thrown in the mix. However, in working for a newspaper I have seen what free press can do and how it provides a necessary and invaluable arena for a community. In our paper we provide a platform for discussion and awareness for the surrounding community. We give space for all local politicians to campaign and information on the concerns that are facing the community. We are a voice, and that is something that cannot be muzzled or made into something to fear.

Journalism is a vocation and a noble one and though I do not consider myself to be one, I do admire journalist. It is a way of being that strives for the clarity of truth and honesty in the murky waters of a world that tends to be deceptive. The good ones see the best and worst in humanity and relay it back with an even voice and cool head. Members of the free press are not, nor should ever be, the makers of news, nor are they teacher or brainwashers. They are informants. They serve the public as the nerve endings to a society, noting both the pain of our failings and the pleasure of our triumphs. Free press cannot be an enemy to the people. It is an impossibility, because the free press is the people.

Read other articles by Sarah Muir