There are over 1,000 daily newspapers in the United States, most of them covering smaller markets, like Annapolis or West Chester. The people working for these newspapers aren't seeking fame, and they aren't pushing political agendas. They're covering the communities they live in -- the city councils, the police and fire departments, the courts, the school boards, the high-school sports teams, the snake that some homeowner found in a toilet.
These newspaper people work hard, in relative obscurity, for (it bears repeating) lousy pay. Sometimes, because of the stories they write, they face hostility; sometimes -- this happens to many reporters; it happened to me -- they are threatened.
But the news people I know are still passionate about what they do, and they do it remarkably well. And here's the corny-but-true part: They do it for you. Every time they write a story, they're hoping you'll read it, maybe learn something new, maybe smile, maybe get mad and want to do something. That's what the people were doing at the Capital Gazette when they were shot. And the survivors, God bless them, put out a paper the next day. Because that's what we do in this business.
This was a local feud that long predated today's anti press hysteria, but as the level of hysteria goes up, it gives an "okay" to those who want to kill: So, like school shootings, where coverage encourages others to act out on their hate, it inspires the crazies.
And believe me: There are quite a few out there. Every doctor has a few angry paranoid people among their patients, and like a lot of the previous "shooters", those around them knew they were crazy and dangerous, but under the law, you can't force them to take their medicine, and it is almost impossible for you to hospitalize them.
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