Maryland

I dont know what to think or say

I was just talking in my local FB group about my time as a "real" journalist in the late 90s at our local paper which is down to three staff


We had a huge blowup in 97 I think? local marina owner and boat tour guy who was also into local politics (cuz he had to look out for his interests) got nailed on corruption and pollution charges and out coverage sent him over the edge.

I was a 27 yr old rookie, and givien the task to document the scanner on the night of his rampage. He shot some ppl and then got caught, ONE block from our door.

Truck full of weapons and we didnt even have a locked door to the newsroom, just a little waist-high flappy thing... he was coming for US.
That was an eye opener for real....and yet I am still sad to have seen that level of real journalism die in my town.
It's not like we've gone down in population or issues...but it's become a tabliod tourist rag with *just* enough local (paid) stories to seem like they are still a real paper. only 3 staff now.

Anyway, this bullshit against journalists is just that....they deserve protection for what they do. I guess untill we see what it looks like w/o "free press" we'll never know how important it is to the society as a whole. (sorry to wax poetic, it's my friday and I'm vibing the wine )

:/