Do you really believe in freedom of speech?

5 Thoughts I'm Having

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

Dear Friend,

The atmosphere of writing in public spaces is shifting even more. One day we will look back and say: where did things go wrong? Some will say it happened overnight because of one person, and others will know it happened in slow motion as Americans were silenced or censored one person at a time by a group of many.

That’s where I begin this letter to you today. I am not going to insult you and say the extremely clichéd “this is not about politics,” because everything these days is about politics. Our future is about politics.

I have had many painful conversations lately in an attempt to stay away from politics.

A client recently asked me how I was politically affiliated, which was a polite way of asking me who I voted for. I answered with, “Who I voted for doesn’t impact my ability to read, interpret, and explain tax law changes, and my political affiliation will not change how I serve my clients the best that I know how.” In other words, the job is the job. I will do the job with joy (mostly).

Outside of the job, I see everything through a lens of kindness (or unkindness), of deciding if people are being helped (or unnecessarily harmed). I try not to have an out-loud opinion about every single thing that happens in the world. However, I have an uncontrollable, visceral reaction to actions I witness that cause unnecessary harm to vulnerable people. I have strong opinions when the freedoms of people are stripped away simply because those people don’t look, act, or speak like the men and women (but let’s be honest, mostly men) making the decisions. I get downright nauseous when rich people put becoming richer over the well-being of children who are starving and our elderly who are on fixed incomes. And I am irate that politicians are no longer serving the people that put them in office, and the people are letting them get away with it.

But let’s get back to the subject at hand—the subject that is a normal part of this newsletter: writing and publishing.

I touched on the subject of the changing media landscape in my letter to you on December 21, 2024. In that letter, I discussed Ochuko Akpovbovbo’s prediction that “we’re heading toward a serious power struggle between traditional and alternative media in the coming year.”

Well, that power struggle is unfolding faster than I thought it would. People are dropping from legacy media right into Substack’s welcoming arms with lightning speed.

Paul Krugman left his 25-year career as an opinion writer for the New York Times last month.

“Yet what I felt during my final year at the Times was a push toward blandness, toward avoiding saying anything too directly in a way that might get some people (particularly on the right) riled up. I guess my question is, if those are the ground rules, why even bother having an opinion section?”

Jennifer Rubin left her position at the Washington Post.

“The decay and compromised principles of corporate and billionaire-owned media underscore the urgent need for alternatives. Americans are eager for innovative and independent journalism that offers lively, unflinching coverage free from cant, conflicts of interest and moral equivocation.”

And Jim Acosta left CNN after 18 years. You can read about some of his career highlights, including the time he “traveled to Cuba to cover President Obama’s historic trip to the island.”

“During a press conference with dictator Raul Castro, I pressed Castro about his regime’s practice of jailing political prisoners. When I returned home, my father, a Cuban refugee, was beaming with pride. He was glad I asked the question. One of the lasting lessons I took from that moment was this: it’s never a good time to bow down to a tyrant.”

Clearly, this letter to you has WAY more than 5 thoughts in it. But as always, I needed the lengthy lead up to the 5 Thoughts I’m Having this week:

1. Friend, I think we all need to be careful about where we’re getting our “news.” I no longer watch my news on television. (I have never gotten my news from social media, but that would also be something I would have dropped at this time.) Instead, I read from multiple independent sources, not owned and run by billionaires, that I find reputable. Yes, I know some would say that I’m probably reading from biased sources, but that is why I read from multiple sources, and then I use my own intelligence to separate fact from opinion.

2. If you and I insist on having conversations with strangers on social media, we probably should listen more than we’re talking or arguing. Listen to our stranger friends abroad. Listen to our stranger friends in other states. Listen to politicians at the state and local level, as well as at the national level. Politicians are constantly telling us who they really are on social media. This is where my lens of kindness comes into play. Are the people we’re listening to promoting kindness or unkindness? Are they helping people or harming people?

3. Don’t be naïve and think that it’s just news reporters and opinion writers for large organizations that are starting to be silenced. Novelists, especially romance writers, have seen their fair share of censorship. Simply check out the stats and information from Pen America about more than 10,000 books that have been banned from schools. Book banning will continue. And let me be clear: I’m unequivocally against book banning of any form.

4. Before anyone comes at me in the comments, no one is suggesting that 50 Shades of Grey should be in middle school libraries. Anyone who claims that this is the case is lying. (Side note: My daughter had a friend who read the entire 50 Shades series in the eight grade. She did not get these books from the school library. Again, don’t be naïve.) Civic leaders will hide behind language that states that “only age-appropriate” material should be in school libraries while banning Forever by Judy Blume and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain from high school libraries. Just because a person might be uncomfortable discussing a subject matter with their child does not mean they shouldn’t discuss that subject matter. Most likely, the child will discuss it with someone. I always wanted to be that person.

5. If you made it this far in my letter to you, thank you. I don’t write about politics (I said what I said), however, I do write about writing and publishing, and I believe freedom of speech is being threatened. And I don’t think it’s going to stop with a handful of journalists.

Until next time,

Heather

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Thanks for reading. This newsletter is a consistently inconsistent publication of my thoughts, though I’ve vowed to be more consistent in 2025. You can find more of my shorter thoughts and links to things I’m reading in my Notes.

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