Several Connecticut outlets joined hundreds of papers around the country in publishing editorials Thursday promoting the freedom of the press - pushing back against President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media.
The initiative was coordinated by the Boston Globe, but each paper wrote its own essay on why a free press is an essential pillar of democracy.
In Connecticut, the Hartford Courant published an editorial focusing on the everyday work done by its journalists in the state’s communities.
"Is this really what the enemy looks like?" it began. "Climbing creaky stairs in old town halls for 7 p.m. meetings. Sitting on folding chairs for hours, sometimes the only people in the room other than the town officials. Writing stories that same night and sending them to editors who are also working late at night."
The Connecticut Mirror published an editorial by Sue Cross, the CEO of the Institute for Nonprofit News, of which the Mirror is a member. With the headline "We Will Not Shut Up," the piece urges the public to stand up for rights to free speech and an open government.
In New London, The Day also chimed in with its own editorial, while noting that it had already addressed the issue earlier this month.
"President Trump apparently sees it as a tactical advantage to dismiss all reporting that does not reflect favorably on his administration as 'fake news,'" the paper opined. "Only information coming from the president or news and social media sites he deems worthy is acceptable. Such an approach sows the seeds of tyranny. The king is above reproach."
In the northwest corner of the state, the tiny Lakeville Journal also highlighted its loyalty to its readers. "We aren’t the enemy of the people. We are the people," it avows. "We aren’t fake news. We are your news and we struggle night and day to get the facts right."
Publisher Janet Manko says the president’s 'enemy of the people' claim is corrosive. “While Donald Trump may not be talking about our little community weekly newspapers, he affects us and he affects our readers,” she told Connecticut Public Radio.
Manko said while sometimes the media is unpopular, she reflects on advice she once heard from Jim Lehrer.
“Journalists need to report on what people need to know - not what they want to know," she said. "And so that’s what we always have to remember and use as our standard - what do people really need to know to be able to function in their society.”
Manko says she’s already received some emails from readers supporting the paper’s stand.
