Founders of the American system of govemment knew that the newly formed Republic could not live and Frosper without an en ightened citizenry. Statements by Washington., Jefferson, Madison and others attest to this. It followed that free xbm of the press was to be decreed in the very first amendment to the Constitution. A press that printed the truth “told what the government was doing and what the people expected of their leaders – was the best assurance of the kind of informed citizens the founders had in mind. National Newspaper Wed: Oct. 9-15 is a good time to remind you, the public, and the media as caretakers of this sacred trust, that without freedom of the press all other freedoms would stand to wither. This truth is inferred in the Newspaper Week theme: “A Free Press – Democracy’s First Defense.” President Reagan marked the observance with a statement saying: “Of the forces shaping the destiny of our civilization, none is more crucial to our future than the responsible reporting and truthful analysis of the events of our era.” Your newspaper is your friend. With the First Amendment as its authority and guideline, it is engaged in a daily crusade for your right to know. And with the knowledge of what is going on in the world and in your nation, state, and community, you are bett.er grepared to make intel’gent and enlightened judgments Many nations of the world do not enjoy a free press. Their people are spoon-fed what dictators over the controlled press want them to lmow. The recent air tragedy in which a Russian fighter plane shot down a South Korean passen ger jet, killing 269 persons, is an ilustration. The facts were quickly disseminated by the free press The Soviet Union finally admitted that it destroyed Flight 007 with missiles, while controlling what its own people should hear. President Reagan, in a Sept. 24 Voice of America broadcast beamed to the Soviet Union, asked the Russians to “please understand” reasons for the international outcry over the downing of the Korean airliner. There has been reliable evidence that some people in the USSR heard the broadcast how many nobody knows. For the most part, however, only the information willed by the Soviet rulers has been available to the Russian masses How true were the words of Walter Lippman: “‘lhere can be no liberty for a community which lacks the information by which to detect lies.” Let National Newspaper Wed: be a time to cherish the blessing of a free press, and for renewed dedication by the press itself in seeking out and publishing the truth.