Throughout the 2016 election, citizens on both ends of the political spectrum have scrutinized the media. President Trump’s campaign referred to, and continues to refer to, unsavory articles about him as “fake news,” and left-leaning constituents criticized the inflation of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, even going so far as to call it the reason she lost. During President Trump’s first month in office, outlets like the New York Times and CNN have been barred from briefings and disparaged by federal officials. Even former President George W. Bush openly criticized President Trump in a recent TV interview, calling the press “indispensable to democracy.”

This is a time where propaganda passes for journalism, and the objective truth is rejected in favor of a truth that’s beneficial to the government’s agenda. It is more crucial than ever to speak out against federal bodies, especially those who try to defy the rights and amendments they’re meant to protect.

1972. Richard Nixon is in office, and the Washington Post is knee-deep in a story pinning the recent burglary of the National DNC headquarters on his administration. The journalists who chased the story, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, have become synonymous with exposing political scandal and holding the government responsible. But under a government that chooses to suppress negative feedback instead of listening to its constituents, the narrative doesn’t end with whistleblowing. It leaks into the next presidency, and the next after that.

Part of the problem is the concept of “fake news.” This is a buzzword that started as an honest concern, but has quickly become a way to tear down “liberal” media. “Liberal media” being anyone that dares to question our commander-in-chief. Be it CNN’s Jake Tapper or the New York Times Editorial Board, the majority of “fake news” is simply a criticism of contrasting opinion.

Undeniably, journalists have made dangerous mistakes. Buzzfeed’s decision to publish an unverified dossier alleging hefty claims against President Trump, including incendiary allegations concerning his campaign’s relationship with Russia, was nothing short of a blunder. The journalists and editors involved deserved every bit of criticism they received. However, less than a month later, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was found to have ties to Russia.

And that’s the point: this is an administration that requires exhaustively close inspection. Journalists are one of the last lines of defense standing between a susceptible citizen and their manipulative government. Journalists are some of the few people that can tell our representative government what their constituents think. Journalists embody the first unalienable human right our Founding Fathers saw fit to clarify and emphasize, and modern governments have that same responsibility to uphold it.

If our government won’t defend the rights of every citizen, they aren’t doing their job. And apparently, journalists have to do it for them. So subscribe to the New York Times. Subscribe to the Washington Post. Support publications trying to fight for American rights. The government is obstructing the truth. The American people must seek it for themselves.