Daily Lobo: We are not the enemy of the people

Dear President Trump,

It’s clear you hold quite the disdain for the media. While this is not uncommon for people in your position, the level of ferocity that you have shown has gone far beyond simple critiques.

Even after five journalists were gunned down in their own newsroom by a man who did not agree with their coverage of him, you stated publicly that those in the media are “the enemy of the people.”

Today, the Daily Lobo stands with the Boston Globe and hundreds of media outlets around the country in saying that we will not stand for this kind of rhetoric that can only result in the endangering of human lives and the regression of American democracy.

We’d go into detail about the various articles we’ve written about our university, city and state, including sports cuts, tuition hikes, rampant crime and more — but we shouldn’t have to. The press’ place in the United States was already guaranteed when the freedom of the press was added to the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

We should not have to convince our elected leaders why threatening members of an entire industry to the point of violence is wrong. Such answers seem blatantly obvious.

We at the Lobo believe our coverage speaks for itself. While you may not like our coverage or that of our colleagues, we demand that you at least respect the place that such institutions hold in our society.

With the closures of small-town newspapers across the nation, it’s clear what happens when a free and open press is eliminated. Simply put, the less coverage of governments there are, the more expensive said governments become.

It is imperative for the well-being of all Americans that the press is protected. When the President of the United States creates distrust toward the media, they are no better than any of the autocrats around the world that do the same.

We are not above making mistakes, but we are the first admit when we do so by making corrections and editors’ notes. We continue to strive to provide the best coverage to our readers, who without, both newspapers and governments would not exist.

At the end of the day, all we can do as journalists is get up, put on our press badges and cover the news. And the day that stops is the day that America, as we know it, dies.

Sincerely,

The Daily Lobo Newsroom