Freedom of the press is important to those who have chosen to be journalists and serve as the peoples’ watchdogs in America for almost 250 years.
Many feel that the First Amendment is in peril. Trust in the media has eroded at every level. Continuous allegations of “fake news” continue to permeate social media and “new” media…often targeting legacy media who will not report a certain opinion but rather continue to rely on facts. In Michigan, this is not helped by the fact that our “Capitol Press Corps” has limited access to information about the legislature and the executive office.
For a decade, proponents of open government in the legislature and the public have pushed to remove the exemption our governor and legislators have from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). For five consecutive legislative sessions, this effort has been shut down.
