The Leader proudly claims its place among professional legacy media. It's a role that also comes with a lot of responsibility.

This special section will tell you a little about the state of the news industry while providing greater transparency about the standards of operation we follow to earn your trust, including several new initiatives aimed at strengthening our bond with the community. 

It isn't a coincidence that we are publishing this as part of Sunshine Week, which is the nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, government, education and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government. This year, Sunshine Week's 20th anniversary, it runs from March 16 to 22. Its work has never been more important.

Professional journalism — and the First Amendment itself — has never been under greater threat. Physical and verbal attacks on the press have been on the rise for a decade while subtle, corrosive and vague criticism has grown more pervasive. Indeed, some people say "legacy media" like it's a bad thing. We have become habituated to a president of the United States periodically calling the press the “enemy of the people" but it trickles all the way down. Often an individual's motivations are obvious, as with a critic going on about bad reporting — right after very good journalism revealed their questionable decisions or conduct or even wrongdoing.

It has also become sadly commonplace for people to chime in about how hopelessly biased it all is — "all opinion, not enough facts" — without examining the claim. That trope has the effect of pushing people toward outright misinformation and disinformation. Yet standards-based American news outlets are consistently much more trustworthy than other options in the media-sphere. Jurisprudence that governs how the press operates in the country, which sprouts from the First Amendment, has been shaped over centuries by libel and other laws. Internal standards of conduct exist in addition to that, helping to ensure responsible stewardship of information. The press — the term enshrined in the U.S. Constitution — has played a big role in the longevity of the United States. 

Readers know, or should know, that we take pride in a robust corrections/clarifications policy. If we're wrong, or something significant is unclear, we fix it online and make note of it on Page 2, even though the vast majority of mistakes occur much farther inside the paper. Promptly admitting when we're wrong links back to the code of ethics. 

On B6 we're publishing our mission statement and our commitment to professional standards — including a section about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) — along with specific promises we make to this community. Leader journalists commit to honoring the guidelines of the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists, the most widely circulated standards of operation used by professional news organizations. We're publishing it in full so you can see it, too.

Also on B6 is the other end of the spectrum in terms of our relationship to the industry, meaning other news organizations and journalism groups. We are increasingly teaming with others to strengthen the long tradition of a free press and remind folks about the Fourth Estate, which refers to the press and its place as the fourth power. That concept predates the First Amendment, ratified in 1791, which includes freedom of the press.

The Leader is the first news organization to join the startup Public Alliance of Professional Journalists, a two-pronged platform for professional news media and the public that will enable the voluntary credentialing of journalists and a place to better explain our work. Something like that is essential to better distinguish between standards-based professional journalists and the much wider media, which includes virtually anyone, anyplace or anything (AI) with a platform, which make no such commitment to standards. 

Finally, we're announcing the new nonprofit arm of The Leader, which is supported by the Local News Sustainability project of Report For America. Contributions help fund wages, benefits, training, and essential equipment, all under the direction of the editor and publisher. Because of you, The Leader is thriving with subscriptions and newsstand sales up more than 20% over the first two months of the year compared to 2024. We aren't out of the woods yet and are working toward long-term sustainability.

The Leader has been here for 136 years and it remains locally owned and operated. We're more committed to this community than ever.

Reach Meredith Jordan at Editor@PTLeader.com