To the Editor:
As a community organizer, artist and writer, I believe in the power of truth-telling – and I know how vital a free press is to that work.
During Trump’s first term, the press was vilified as an “enemy of the people,” and his actions – such as banning reporters and attempting to suppress coverage – laid the groundwork for his authoritarian-style leadership.
Now in his second term, we are seeing those tactics escalate: The White House is seizing control of press room access, sidelining legacy media and targeting public media outlets like NPR and Voice of America. These are not just petty power moves – they are strategic efforts to control the narrative and erode one of the last remaining checks on power.
Around the world, journalists are risking – and losing – their lives to tell the truth. In Gaza, hundreds of Palestinian journalists have been killed while documenting the horrors of war, often with nothing but a phone, a notebook and an unwavering sense of duty. Reporters in Sudan, Iran, Russia and Colombia have faced assassination, imprisonment and exile for daring to tell stories that those in power want silenced. Even here in the U.S., journalists have been murdered.
These threats to journalists are not isolated or exceptional. They are part of a growing global trend that makes journalism a dangerous act of public service.
We can’t afford to let these attacks on the press go unchecked. Now more than ever, we need to protect the people doing the work of documenting history and holding power accountable.
Journalism is more than just a profession – it’s a form of resistance, a commitment to truth, and often an act of immense personal sacrifice. When the press holds the line, it helps the rest of us do the same. It reminds us that the truth still matters, accountability is still possible, and that freedom – real, collective freedom – is worth imagining and fighting for.
Sandy Bové, North Wildwood
