I’m thrilled to be writing for

The


Spectator

this spring in the Opinion and Arts & Culture sections. I’ve always enjoyed putting my thoughts on paper and can hardly wait to share them with readers.

However, as I take this post, I am reminded of the inherent dangers that journalists face in their profession. While nothing I ever experience here at Hamilton should ever be remotely similar to the dangerous conditions into which journalists

regularly insert themselves

, there is still cause for all of us to be concerned about press freedom. Reporters Without Borders (RwB), a nonprofit organization tracking worldwide freedom of information, has delineated a

consistent slide

away from press freedom across the globe, and for every high-profile murder of a journalist (e.g. Jamal Khashoggi) there are dozens of others that receive far less time, if any, in the spotlight. One particularly sobering section of the Press Freedom Index, an annual ranking of informational freedom by nation that RwB provides, is the relatively low ranking of the United States compared to other countries with comparable cultural indices and development; it’s a clear sign that we, as a nation, have severely underperformed in this regard.

The easiest way for us, as students, to participate in the detoxification and removal of undue danger from the pressroom is to stand up for it here on campus. February 26th was National Student Press Freedom Day, and to recount the current state of higher education newspapers across the US as worrying would be a kind description. While the potentiality that any writer at Hamilton would experience direct physical blowback for expressing an opinion is preposterous, and while I have faith in

The Spectator

and other Hamilton publications to respect the values of a free and open press, we must all follow suit in setting store by such a press, available for analysis and critique but

always

free from retribution.

This respect for each others’ writings is paramount to establishing a more knowledgeable and wiser microcosm of society at Hamilton. With many writers suffering under punitive action undertaken by college administrators nationwide — often

regardless

of the writer’s political background, and whether or not such incidents are published in print media — it is up to us as students to ensure that our minds stay supple and up to the college to wash its hands of any interference with the school press. Still, the mission set before us is attainable as well as necessary, just so long as everyone recognizes that this fight requires everyone to take up arms, not just writers but readers as well. As long as freedom of the press is established as a protected value here at Hamilton, the intellectual crops we sow shall be reaped and enjoyed by all.