Why America must defend a free press against authoritarian threats

By: Martin Baron

Outlets: The Berkshire Eagle

Published: September 8, 2025

Words: 1,081

Last Updated: 4 months, 2 weeks ago

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Every year of my journalistic career of nearly half a century, I have known only a free and independent press in the United States.

My professional start was in the 1970s. Those were years when Americans could see clearly how the press served democracy.

With the publication of the Pentagon Papers, the American public learned of the failures its government had covered up during a long war in Vietnam that cost so many lives. …

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