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Longtime Leelanau Enterprise reporter Eric Carlson delivered the following address at Old Settlers Park on July 4 as part of the Glen Lake Woman’s Club annual Flag Raising ceremony. Carlson spoke about his career in journalism, both locally and in conflict zones, about the importance (and sometimes inconvenience) of a free press, about civil liberties, and this fraught political moment in American history.

The news media has suffered in recent years. Corporate consolidations have forced mass layoffs; the Internet and social media have redrawn the map; and demagogues at podiums malign us as convenient scapegoats. The latest blow to local news is the current administration’s shortsighted, illogical tariffs on newsprint from Canada.