You’re not powerless. Every question, every meeting, every shared story helps defend your right to know.
There’s a story about a police protest in Chicago this week: federal agents deployed force, and journalists covering the scene say they were intentionally targeted, denied space to report, or even harmed while visibly credentialed (Politico, Oct. 7 2025).
This isn’t just a headline for big city dwellers. It’s a warning that the protections around journalism and public oversight, which we often take for granted, are fragile — even here at home. The right to a free press and the right to information aren’t abstract ideals reserved for Capitol Hill. They belong in our neighborhoods, town halls, school boards, and city councils — places where decisions about our taxes, environment, healthcare, zoning, safety, and education actually happen.
Why This Matters to You
Press freedom is the backbone of accountability.
When journalists can’t ask tough questions, access public records, or show up to cover meetings, elected officials and institutions effectively operate in the dark. That’s dangerous for society — and costly for everyday people.
Local stories are the most powerful.
National news is important. But the story about your local school budget, environmental permit, or the meeting that affects your property taxes — those stories directly touch your wallet, your quality of life, your future. If you don’t know what’s happening locally, you can’t participate meaningfully or hold local power to account.
These rights require constant defense.
While we often think of press threats as national or ideological, many happen at the local level: meeting bans, closed-door governing, delayed public record requests, or intimidation of small newsrooms. And when the press is weakened locally, communities lose what many call the “watchdog.”
Rights without use are at risk.
Freedom of speech, press, assembly, and access to public records are not self-enforcing. They rely on citizens — people like you — to insist on them, to use them, to protect them. That means showing up, asking questions, demanding openness, pushing back when access is impeded, and supporting local journalism so watchdogs can continue their work.
These freedoms are not neutral or optional. They are essential — whether you care most about affordable healthcare, environmental protection, tax fairness, religious liberties, equal justice, or community safety. They are the tools that allow all of us to see, speak, and respond. Let them vanish, and the choices happening in your name happen too often without your knowledge or input.
None of This Is Inevitable
The erosion of press freedom and public transparency isn’t destiny — it’s a choice.
And so is protecting them. You all have agency. You can make change right where you are. You are not helpless, and the situation is not hopeless. Every person who shows up, asks questions, shares credible local reporting, or supports their local newsroom is part of the solution.
What You Can Do Today
If you believe local journalism matters, here are two small but powerful steps:
Share these stories — with neighbors, on social media, with people who don’t usually follow local news. Sometimes awareness begins with curiosity.
Show up and ask questions — attend a local meeting, read your city council agenda, request public records, and let your local newsroom know what issues you care about.
If we don’t use these rights, they erode. If we don’t protect the institutions that use them, they weaken.
But if we stand up, engage, and insist on transparency, we can help preserve a more informed, accountable, and fair democracy — not just in Washington, but in every city and town.
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This editorial is part of the Know Your News project and may be republished by any news outlet nationwide with attribution.