Just in case my last comments seemed nihilistic, I decided to post this today.
A few months ago I started working on a project about the importance of the press. I am trying to focus on specific reporters from history who were especially courageous in their efforts to report, as well as their attempts to tell the truth about what they saw.
I don't think journalists or writers should be analogous with celebrity. Many of the problems we face in this era are connected to unnecessary mixing of celebrity, news and entertainment.
This republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it.
-Elmer Davis
Shortly after painting this picture, I found the above quote about courage. Elmer Davis reported on World War II and worked for the Office of War Information. During the war, he advocated to allow Japanese men to fight for the United States, and later, for American publications to be allowed to show pictures of dead American soldiers. He felt Americans needed to see the sacrfices soliders made with their own eyes.
After the war, he advocated strongly against McCarthyism.