What The National is matters. It not only matters, but is imperative to the functioning of our democracy and the preservation of a decent society. At a time when too much of the media feels sanitised or shaped by powerful interests, The National continues to ask the difficult questions and tells the stories that others either skirt around or deliberately avoid.
For me, The National is what journalism is supposed to be. Holding power to account and most importantly – reporting on the truth free from the influence of power. A means for those whose voices are too often ignored to be heard and a vehicle for uncomfortable truths to be told, even when those truths are unpopular. It shouldn’t be a rarity in journalism, but the reality now is that it is – and The National is one of few still committed to the kind of hard hitting and truthful reporting that has become so unfortunately lost.
A healthy democracy depends on a press that is prepared to be brave instead of easily bought. That puts principle and truth over convenience and profit. Investing in journalism that still believes its responsibility is to the public is about more than just investing in a newspaper, it’s about keeping power in the hands of ordinary people like you and I. But it cannot survive on goodwill alone, and if we value the kind of fearlessness that The National represents then we have to be willing to support it, particularly when power has already compromised so much of the truth. We must hold on to it with as much might as we can.
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