#JournalismMatters: Journalism is society’s safety net

David Walmsley, Editor in Chief: The Globe and Mail, Creator of World News Day, Canada

Others will take it on. Look at journalists in Mexico or Iran if you haven’t received your daily dose of inspiration. The rate of impunity, killing journalists and not being arrested, creeps toward 100% in some countries, but still the stories mount up. 

A great miracle exists in the business of journalism: facts are not suppressible.

Those in need understand it. And it is those least in need who fight us most: the powerful, terrified their world can’t be entirely controlled. 

That’s the magic of World News Day. 

As you talk to friends, and consider your community, village, town or the wider world, think about what you have learned today. There is a fair bet journalism was involved. The story tellers, who come from your community, tell the facts, no matter how uncomfortable that can be.

That is why, unarmed and living in your community, they are targeted, hassled, belittled, threatened. And it is why they respond with more facts, more answers, more independence of thought – and maintain the link between you and the wider world. 

Journalists are a bridge as we build the future, supported by the capstone of our audience, who are as loyal and determined as the reporter and the editor. 

Those in need understand it. And it is those least in need who fight us most: the powerful, terrified their world can’t be entirely controlled. 

That’s the magic of World News Day. 

As you talk to friends, and consider your community, village, town or the wider world, think about what you have learned today. There is a fair bet journalism was involved. The story tellers, who come from your community, tell the facts, no matter how uncomfortable that can be.

That is why, unarmed and living in your community, they are targeted, hassled, belittled, threatened. And it is why they respond with more facts, more answers, more independence of thought – and maintain the link between you and the wider world. 

Journalists are a bridge as we build the future, supported by the capstone of our audience, who are as loyal and determined as the reporter and the editor. 

Together, on World News Day, if it feels at times that the vestiges of hope are falling away, remember the safety net of journalism is there.