First, don’t mistake this for a political rant. It’s not. It’s also not here to praise President-Elect Trump or bash President Obama. The purpose is to bring some normalcy and sanity to news coverage for journalists and audiences after a bruising political season where just about every concept of news and reporting has been turned on its ear and “Post-Truth” is now a thing.

Sher Watts Spooner recently wrote for the Daily Kos “How journalists should function in the age of Trump” on some of the concerns that some journalists have regarding the incoming administration. What Spooner is not addressing is so much Trump, but what journalism has been neglecting for several years – not doing the work that journalists are supposed to do.

While the mudslinging of the election may seem new, it’s not it has been going on since the founding of the republic. What has changed is how it is delivered into our lives via social media feeds that are frequently a carefully curated echo chamber of our own making. What has been lost is the fundamental understanding that one of the many functions of a journalist – journalists need to cover the stories that need to to be covered because those stories are important.

Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron, upon receiving the Hitchens Award, said “the truth is not meant to be hidden. It is not meant to be suppressed. It is not meant to be ignored. It is not meant to be disguised. It is not meant to be manipulated. It is not meant to be falsified.”

The award goes to a “journalist or author whose work reflects a commitment to free expression, a depth of intellect, and an unwavering pursuit of the truth.”

So fellow journalist let us do our jobs the way it is supposed to be done – with bravery, integrity, accuracy and patience to get the story out.