Logo provided by Student Press Freedom Day, an initiative by the Student Press Law Center.

Across the United States and around the world, journalism is under attack like never before.

World leaders seek to control the narrative and control reporting while seeking to limit access by reporters to be in the room where it happens. Those in charge reward journalists who skew the news toward positive coverage while penalizing those who seek to hold them accountable.

This is despite the fact that most ethical journalists’ main mission is one thing – report the news and shine a light on the human condition in their communities, counties, states, nations and world.

Here at the Herald, that’s what we seek to do, too. As stated in our mission statement, which was adopted at the beginning of this academic year, “The Herald works to be steadfast and unwavering in its pursuit of truth while being true to the tenets of the WKU Student Publications mission to grow exceptional journalists and innovative leaders through real-world experiences and a strong educational and ethical foundation centered on principled journalism.”

In short, we work to tell the truth, while striving to truly be a mirror to campus, telling stories that show who WKU is.

Today is Student Press Freedom Day, a day which allows us the opportunity to recommit to our mission and principles that have guided us for a century.

Like journalists around the nation and around the world, we at the Herald have felt the difficulties of those in power disapproving of the stories we tell. Transparency has long been an issue with the current administration, and while progress has been made since the publication of an open letter calling for increased transparency last semester, there is still a long way to go.

In this political climate where journalism is increasingly under attack at every level, truth is more important than ever before. It is this truth that fuels the work we do.

Today, we reaffirm our commitment to you, our readers, that we will never stop pursuing truth and telling the news as it is. We will never stop telling the hard stories, no matter what those in power have to say. That is what you deserve, and that is what we will strive to bring every single day.

If you would like to submit a reaction to this story, a Letter to the Editor or other submission, please send it to [email protected] or to [email protected].