Robin Forlonge Patterson<p>From the Editor of "<a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/Guardian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Guardian</span></a> US":<br>I hope you appreciated this article. ...I wanted to ask if you could support the Guardian at this crucial time for journalism.</p><p>When the <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/military" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>military</span></a> is deployed to quell overwhelmingly peaceful <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/protest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>protest</span></a>, when elected officials of the opposing party are <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/arrested" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>arrested</span></a> or handcuffed, when student <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/activists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>activists</span></a> are jailed and deported, and when a wide range of civic institutions – non-profits, <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/law" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>law</span></a> firms, <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/universities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>universities</span></a>, news outlets, the arts, the civil service, <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/scientists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>scientists</span></a> – are targeted and penalised by the United States federal <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/government" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>government</span></a>, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that our core freedoms are disappearing before our eyes – and <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/democracy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>democracy</span></a> itself is slipping away.</p><p>In any country on the cusp of <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/authoritarianism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>authoritarianism</span></a>, the role of the <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/press" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>press</span></a> as an engine of <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/scrutiny" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>scrutiny</span></a>, <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/truth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>truth</span></a> and <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/accountability" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>accountability</span></a> becomes increasingly critical. At the Guardian, we see it as our job not only to report on the <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/suppression" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>suppression</span></a> of dissenting voices, but to make sure those voices are heard.</p><p>Not every news organisation sees its mission this way.....</p><p>Our only financial obligation is to fund <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/independent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>independent</span></a> journalism in perpetuity: we have no ultrarich owner, no shareholders, no corporate bosses with the power to overrule or influence our editorial decisions. Reader support is what guarantees our survival and safeguards our independence – and every penny we receive is reinvested in our work.</p><p>The Guardian’s global perspective helps contextualise and illuminate what we are experiencing in this country. That doesn’t mean we have a single viewpoint, but we do have a shared set of values. <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/Humanity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Humanity</span></a>, <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/curiosity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>curiosity</span></a> and <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/honesty" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>honesty</span></a> guide us, and our work is rooted in solidarity with ordinary people and hope for our shared future.</p><p>It has never been more <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/urgent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>urgent</span></a>, or more <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/perilous" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>perilous</span></a>, to pursue <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/reporting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>reporting</span></a> that holds <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/power" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>power</span></a> to account and counters the spread of <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/misinformation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>misinformation</span></a> – and at the Guardian we make our <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/journalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>journalism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/free" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>free</span></a> and accessible to all.</p>