“If you think you’ve got the Morning Post licked, it’s time for you to get out of town.”

That is a line from sassy reporter, Hildy Johnson, from the movie, His Girl Friday.

 

Here’s a list of people who would’ve liked a submissive press.

 

Roy Moore, Alabama candidate for U.S. Senate

Richard Nixon

Just about every politician ever

Charles and David Koch

Bill Clinton

Coal industry

Planned Parenthood

Oil Industry

The Catholic Church

 

 

There may be a couple public figures who, after a good night’s sleep, would honestly prefer that journalists point out their egoism from time to time. Maybe Barack Obama is such a high-minded individual.

 

He might, after a good night’s sleep and no arugula for breakfast (the press unkindly suggested that his awareness of that food indicated elitism).

 

We don’t have to look for Stalins and Hugo Chavezes of the world to find influencers who would like journalists to stay in bed with a permanent hangover.

 

Harvey Weinstein

Bill O’Reilly, pundit for Fox News, which paid over $13 mil. in settlements to five women.

 

The list of cretins (that’s creep to you under fifty) being exposed by the free exercise of both investigative journalism and an open information society is long. Many of us look back at the last century and wonder why so many got away with so much for so long. We can hope for better for our daughters.

 

So, #MeToo has given us a chance to clean up our act. Men and women are both relieved. Men who may have crossed lines are nervous, but I would say, just act well now.

 

The beautiful architecture in every capital around the world has sounding within their marble halls the irritating call for transparency.

 

Transparency in business and government is the paper trail which lets us see what actions were performed and where the money flowed.

 

It is accountability to citizenry in general.

 

In short, keeping people honest who are in positions of power is done best by having thousands of relentless, literate, curious journalists poking around day after day.

 

When journalists (the Fourth Estate, so-called) are denied access to politicians, criminal activity by those in power is the natural consequence. It doesn’t take long for journalists to be put in jail by governments whose people have weakened their resistance to abuse.

 

Parents get separated from children, subordinates get assaulted, and money from foreign nations sloshes around our democracy in order to make us crazy.

Say no to any threats against journalists.

Fight for the right to make those who would like to lead the country prove their good will.

Stand up for those who make them squirm a little.

 

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