Celebrating freedom of the press

Posted

Another year has passed.

On the front page of this newspaper, you will notice that this is the first issue of the 108th year of publication for The Pagosa Springs SUN.

Freedom of the press is one of our cherished rights.

Charles W. Bailey II, a longtime reporter and editor for the Minneapolis Tribune and the Star and Tribune, spoke at a dinner in Minneapolis in November of 1982. His speech addressed the roles and responsibilities of newspapers.

“What newspapers are obligated to provide for their communities is the context for decisions — the menu of accurate and complete and relevant information on which enlightened self-government depends.  It is fashionable these days to talk about lifestyle reporting and special sections and ‘soft’ news, and of course there is a place for all of that in today’s newspapers. But the justification for newspapers — and for the special privilege granted to them by the authors of the Bill of Rights — is that they print the news.”

Here at The SUN, we take the privilege and freedom of printing the news very seriously.

We also take the role of being a government watchdog very seriously.

We’ve noticed that it makes some who serve on government boards a bit uncomfortable when The SUN makes a Colorado Open Records Act request.

We question why they are so uncomfortable when they should be doing business in the light of day. They should welcome our efforts to keep them accountable.