A few years ago, this would have been neither controversial nor necessary to say. But here we are. The fascist tenets of nationalism and racial superiority, the crushing of individual rights and freedoms, and the suppression of dissenting voices through intimidation and force are in absolute opposition to the mission of journalism. That they directly […]
First Amendment
Posted inEditorial
What We’re Not Talking About
On Sept. 10, two young American males brought guns to campuses and opened fire. One, perched atop a Utah Valley University roof with a hunting rifle, shot and killed Charlie Kirk, a high-profile extreme right-wing activist. His death has launched an outpouring of grief among public figures, countless speeches and essays lamenting the loss of […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Privileged Protest
By now, just about everyone has seen the photograph. It’s of a brunette white woman standing on the Humboldt County Courthouse lawn with a smattering of American flags in the background. Her head is cocked to the right, sunglasses covering her eyes and a red bandana tied around her neck above a jean jacket. In […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Sack Full of Sacrament
A Southern California lawyer and church leader has filed a lawsuit against the county of Humboldt and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, alleging they violated his client’s rights to religious freedom when they raided a cannabis grow and eradicated five greenhouse’s worth of weed last month. In the lawsuit filed June 27, Matthew […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Little Sunshine in Congress, State Legislature
“The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist they may retain control […]
Posted inNews
Recognizing the Year’s Worst in Government Transparency
Government transparency laws like the Freedom of Information Act exist to enforce the public’s right to inspect records so we can all figure out what the heck is being done in our name and with our tax dollars. But when a public agency ignores, breaks or twists the law, your recourse varies by jurisdiction. In […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Save Our Speech
I’m pro-free speech and I am not a Nazi. I feel I have to to start there following news story after news story about people protesting “free speech rallies” when what they are actually protesting is the gathering of Nazis and white nationalists and the spouting of racist ideas. These images give me chills: mobs […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Press Time
For a long time citizen journalists annoyed me. I blamed them for destroying the news profession. If people gave away work for free, why would anyone pay a journalist to collect and report news? And without professional journalists we couldn’t have a reliable and credible stream of information to depend on. But now I think […]