Journalists are important.  In my opinion, they're very important. The best journalists, like Old Testament prophets, speak truth to power and reveal the ugly dirt behind the pretty and public veneer of society.  Their very presence foils corruption or, at least, helps reveal it, punish it, and make it dive for deeper waters else go extinct.  It was for this reason that Thomas Jefferson famously wrote: "The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without … [Read more...]