This week, a journalist in Los Angeles was shot with a projectile fired by police while covering a protest—clearly identifiable as press, simply doing their job. It’s the latest in a growing list of incidents that should alarm every one of us who believes in a free society. 

It’s no longer just hostile tweets or online harassment. Journalists across the country are being shoved, arrested, threatened—and now, even shot—while trying to bring the public the truth. And let’s be clear: when reporters are attacked, it’s not just an assault on an individual. It’s an assault on your right to know what’s happening in your community, your state, your country. 

This issue hits close to home for those of us in local news. We don’t do this job for fame or fortune. We do it because it matters. Because people rely on honest reporting to make sense of their world—to hold officials accountable, to get to the bottom of tough issues, to understand what’s happening right here on our own streets. 

The First Amendment doesn’t just protect free speech—it protects the press, explicitly. That wasn’t an accident. Our founders knew that a functioning democracy depends on a free and active media. Without it, corruption grows in the shadows. Misinformation spreads unchecked. Power goes unchallenged. 

And yet, the climate for journalists has grown darker. Law enforcement has, in too many instances, failed to distinguish between members of the press and participants in demonstrations. And politicians at all levels, from city halls to Capitol Hill, have increasingly painted the press as the enemy. That kind of rhetoric doesn’t just erode trust—it incites violence. 

We cannot accept this as the new normal. 

Standing up for journalists doesn’t mean agreeing with everything they write. It means recognizing their role as watchdogs and storytellers. It means valuing truth over convenience. It means understanding that democracy doesn’t work without transparency— and transparency doesn’t happen without a press willing to dig, question, and report. 

Here at the local level, we’ve got to speak out. We’ve got to support journalism, defend it, and protect the people doing it. Because when a journalist is attacked—whether it’s in L.A., D.C., or right here in Northern Virginia—it’s not just their safety on the line. It’s all of ours. 

Let’s not wait for another headline to remind us of what’s at stake. Let’s say clearly, right now: we stand with the press. We stand with the truth. And we stand with the people who risk their safety to bring it to light.