More than at any time during my lifetime, our nation needs a vibrant, independent free press. Today, carrying out that mission, one guaranteed by our Constitution but under direct assault by our current president and his administration, will require courage and inevitably entail personal risk. I want to personally say a heartfelt “thank you” to the stalwart journalists who are keeping us informed and illuminating the daily threats to democracy we are experiencing.

We the public are going to need to stand behind you and honor your work as sentinels and protectors of our democracy. Together with us, you are also going to need to stand behind your colleagues. We must all be ready to speak out and act when even one of you is targeted by the authoritarian leaders and denied access, censored, jailed, deported to foreign prisons, or worse.

Such anti-American actions against the press, spurred by a leader who calls the media the “enemy of the people,” are no longer unimaginable scenarios in our country today. Some attacks have already occurred. And more unlawful actions against members of the press are surely coming.