Thank you to Ryan for your editorial explaining why freedom of the press and factual information is so important to us all. Thanks to all the staff at The Times for having the courage to print the truth. To all of the journalists out there who continue to write and publish the truth, thank you.

You are not the enemy of the American people. You are essential to a healthy, functioning democracy and an instigator of critical thought. We need you now more than ever!

The press is often referred to as the fourth branch of government due to the news media’s responsibility to inform us with factual information that often takes a lot of effort to uncover, and it’s dangerous. According to the Internet, 1,035 professional journalist were killed in the past 15 years. What you do takes guts and is heroic.

One of our biggest problems today is that we don’t all agree on basic facts. There is no such thing as alternative facts, yet there are those who would argue the point. Suddenly, in the past few years, some people don’t trust established, highly reputable, award-winning publications such as The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Economist, Reuters, Forbes, etc. Instead, those people seem to believe these organizations are all part of a conspiracy and they feel they can only rely on off-brand “news.”

It is imperative that our news organizations stay independent and continue to provide facts to the public!

William H. McRaven, a retired four-star admiral and former Navy SEAL recently said, “We must challenge this statement and this sentiment that the news media is the enemy of the American people…This sentiment may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.”