There are few things more powerful than a well-told story. In the past several days I’ve stumbled on several of them. One can be found here, talking about Laotians killed by U.S. cluster bombs. Another is from from NOW, a PBS program that consistently finds stories missed by other outlets. Check out this NOW video about a U.S. Marine prosecutor so disgusted with U.S. treatment of detainees he refused to prosecute a 9/11 financier:

These are stories that would otherwise fall through the cracks. I worry about newspapers’ future, but I believe there will always be the passion and the funding for this type of reporting. We deserve more than the thin veneer of truth governments, companies and individuals pitch as their reasons for actions. Someone has to go dig deeper. A journalist’s responsibility is not to shareholders; it is to their community. These are prime examples of journalists that have not forgotten that.
Want another example? Check out the Listening Post, an Arab perspective that shows biases we are often too close to recognize. Everyone deserves to have their credibility tested, especially the media. They are out there doing just that.