My time as editor-in-chief of The Mass Media has been both fulfilling and stressful. Overall, I have been a proud member of the staff since December 2000. And I have enjoyed my time, and yet it has not been without its pressures.

Freedom of the press is an ideal that I feel is shoved aside in our collective consciousness. The events, and aftermath, of September 11 is a significant factor. However, it goes beyond that. It was a factor before, and it is so now.

Dissent. No one person wants to be disagreed with. Convictions, beliefs, and ideals are major internal components of our personal makeup. To have those rebutted, refuted, and dismissed often enrages the individual. Our personal human constitution will suffer nothing less, understandably.

I am not immune from this. As an individual, I have often felt enraged, frustrated, and flabbergasted by the on-goings of certain persons, groups, and organized bodies in the realm of the public.

Too often, issues are placed in the rigid frames of black and white, right and wrong, moral and immoral. This is unfortunate, regardless of where one stands on a particular issue.

And that last sentence is what irritates the populace. No! is shouted from both galleries, there is a right and there is a wrong.

I don’t disagree. As an individual.

My belief is that newspapers, in a democratic society, should not be made to feel pressured from any outside contingency, whether government body or commercial entity. First and foremost, a newspaper should report the news and issues that the-powers-that-be would want swept under the rug. It is only natural that a free press enlightens the public regarding concerns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

That is what I believe. But I also want, in this free society, a forum with which those who disagree with me can utilize an avenue to voice their dissent. Debate is healthy and a free press is essential for the maturation and/or continued wellbeing of any democratic society.