Excerpts are from DipNote, the State Department Blog
Today, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke at the grand opening of The Washington Post’s new headquarters in Washington, D.C. As part of the celebration of a paper he recognized as the “epitome of an iconic institution,” Secretary Kerry took the opportunity to welcome home recently-returned, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and to highlight the importance of journalist safety and press freedom globally.
Secretary Kerry acknowledged the significant role The Washington Post and newspapers like it have played for those seeking information on sports to world events. The Secretary recalled how the Post altered both national politics and journalism with its coverage of Watergate and the Pentagon Papers. The Secretary said, “For many of us, this was a formative moment in our political lives… one reason that so many people in the media today are prepared to tell the truth, to stand up to powerful interests, is precisely because The Washington Post proved that not even the President of the United States is above the law.”
Kerry went on to say,
“The truth is that independent media — reporters, broadcasters, photographers, bloggers, even cartoonists — are under constant pressure today, whether physical or political. And here we are well into the 21st century, and yet only about one person in six lives in a country where the press can truly be described as free.”
Source: Journalism ‘Is Not A Crime’: The Critical Role of a Free Press | DipNote