"The newspaper is stronger than any one of us on the editorial staff." How many times have I heard this sentence at "Israel Hayom" and other papers at which I've worked.
This sentence also rings true in the other languages I've heard on my many visits to various news offices across the globe. The newspaper is stronger than those who produce it.
It's what I've been taught since my first piece was published in December 1983, and it's the source of pride for those of us who invest in the craft – for ourselves and for you. Whatever happens, only the paper will decide when it shuts down!
I remembered this sentence on Friday upon hearing that the Capital Gazette went to print despite the murderous shooting attack at its offices.
A frustrated man who decided to take the law into his own hands claimed the lives of five people, with the goal of murdering free expression, murdering the editorial staff, eradicating the newspaper.
Despite the shock, rage, trauma, the scope of the tragedy – the Gazette's editorial staff continues to perform its task.
It's what we know to do, one staff editor said. It's what we need to do, I would add. The newspaper's coverage of the incident was on point –reportage, journalism par excellence.
Journalism isn't a normal profession. Some would call it a trade; others would say it's a calling. The veteran editorial staff in Annapolis taught me, in perhaps the toughest moment it has known, that the "show must go on."
The editorial staff, whose grief we share, showed us that no insane murderer, extreme ideologue – such as those behind the senseless terrorist attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris – or opportunist lawmaker can hurt this important institution.
The newspaper is stronger than any of us who help produce it, and that's a good thing. Its fortitude also makes it stronger than all those who seek to harm it in any way possible.
