I'm a writer. I was (and sometimes still am) a journalist. Reporting the news and covering a community is a tough job to do in a balanced yet empathetic way when such events occur. I can only imagine the difficulty of doing that on a day like today, but journalists do not rest. They report the news, even when it is unbearable, even when they are speechless.
I did not grow up in Annapolis but it has become my home. I read The Capital Gazette (and its parent paper the Baltimore Sun) growing up. I ate crabs on these newspapers, used them to wrap gifts in or clipped articles from them to pin to my walls. I studied these papers in journalism class.
I could have been working there -- I wanted to work there. But I was not. I got to go home and hug my loved ones, unlike the five journalists who lost their lives. We can honor them by remembering their names and tuning in more consciously to the news.
The first amendment is the first for a reason: the best way to fight back against injustice and evil is to arm the public with information. Stay informed, support the press.
Gerald Fischman | Rob Hiaasen | John McNamara | Rebecca Smith | Wendi Winters
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