Imagine for a moment a world without a free press.
Government would have a chance to run amok.
Those in positions of trust, power, authority and influence would act without fear of exposure or punishment.
Citizens would have no idea what kind of back-room deals are made, seemingly on their behalf, or who would benefit – monetarily or otherwise.
In reality, our founding fathers foresaw such possibilities and established such protections as a free press guaranteed under the First Amendment.
Thankfully, they did, because, today, the press is under scrutiny and attack like never before in American history.
Our president, Donald Trump, has launched an aggressive, sometimes daily, attack on the press since the day he took office.
He claims fake news on any piece of journalism he doesn’t like.
He frequently calls the press the “enemy of the American people.”
He often singles out journalists in press conferences, launching verbal attacks (using words like scum, slime, dishonest and disgusting) on them and their work, shaming them in front of peers and the world.
The continuous two-year assault on the press has taken its toll, eroding Americans’ trust in media and the vital work it does.
In fact, his attacks have fostered such hatred that some journalists have been physically threatened.
We hope you don’t buy the angry and dangerous rhetoric.
The Victoria Advocate is the second-oldest newspaper in the state. We have proudly reflected our community, through both good and bad times, through tragedy and triumph, for 173 years.
We are under a third generation of family ownership that spans 65 years.
Our slogan reflects how we feel about our community: “From here, for here.”
Our journalists work on your behalf, covering government meetings, digging deep for investigative stories, shedding light on wrongdoing, and giving a voice to the voiceless.
We tell the good stories in the community, give you the latest analysis and scores from local sports and educate you on the issues of the day.
And, when such cases arise, we hold governmental bodies accountable, ensuring their actions are legal or in the best intentions of citizens. We, like all good newspapers, file hundreds of freedom of information requests, poring through hundreds of documents to ensure public business is done in the public.
Thankfully not everyone views the press in such negative light.
“If you want to preserve – I’m very serious now – if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, has said. “And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That’s how dictators get started.”
Today, we join hundreds of newspapers across the country in editorializing, and hopefully, educating people on the important job a free press has.
Enemy of the people?
Absolutely not.
We are a watchdog, or some would say the Fourth Estate, for the people.
We are, at our essence, your advocate.