A voice for free speech in a free world

Marty Baron, center, with U. of Navarra faculty and students. Photo by Manuel Castells

Marty Baron, editor of the Washington Post, came to speak at University of Navarra events in Madrid and Pamplona last week.

Baron's message made me proud to be an American and a journalist. The whole world looks to the U.S. for leadership. Here is an excerpt from his speech in Madrid.

"At the center of our mission is journalism that holds powerful institutions and individuals accountable. We have an obligation to speak truth to power. And the powerful in our world should never be allowed to suppress it.
For all the challenges we face in the media today, this is the greatest. It is why we as journalists must stay faithful to our central purpose. Someone must still tell things as they really are.
No government power, no powerful institution, and no powerful individual should have the right to stop us. And we in the press should not stop ourselves because of fear or self-censorship. These are times to remind ourselves what it means to be a free people, times to think hard about what is required of us if we wish to hold on to the freedoms that we value.
In too many countries, in too many ways, our liberties are being placed at risk. Among those most in jeopardy are free expression, including a free press. For those of us who work in the press, and for all who cherish the free expression that gives meaning and life to our democracies, the quality we now need most, is courage."

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