If you missed Brian Mackey’s interview on The 21st this week with the publisher of the Marion County Record, the Kansas newspaper that was raided by police Aug. 11, it is worth looking up at nprillinois.org. Eric Meyer, the publisher, has a broad perspective – honed by his two decades as a University of Illinois journalism professor – on the fragility of press freedom in the current political climate. And his experience as a small-town newspaper owner gives him an understanding of the fragile nature of the press itself. Because there is a widespread notion that newspapers are dead, people feel free to try to intimidate or harm those that are still living. “The saying, ‘Never pick a fight with anyone who buys ink by the barrel’ doesn’t work anymore,” Meyer said. – Fletcher Farrar, editor
This article appears in Fall Guide 2023.
