Cyberattack targeted all who value freedom

The First Amendment enshrines our sacred right to a free press. That right came under assault recently when a sophisticated cyberattack threatened to prevent the publication of the Daily Herald for the first time in 148 years.

Thanks to the herculean overtime efforts of journalists, editors, printers, and other staff, the paper's publication streak barely survived on Wednesday morning.

Unfortunately, we've grown so used to brazen attacks on the Constitution that they no longer shock the conscience or even surprise us. Whether last month's attack was carried out by a lone wolf, organized crime or a foreign state actor, the target was all of us - Americans who depend on a free exchange of ideas.

Having journalists in my family and sitting on the board of a nonprofit community news station, I'm familiar with reporters' early mornings of vetting potential stories, long days of sometimes dangerous work, and late nights of revising stories and beating deadlines. Often, they do so without recognition or thanks, day in and day out.

Today, please take a minute to recognize local journalists, editors, and staff, wherever they are. And let us stay eternally vigilant - without a local free press, we would not have a free civil society.

Ian Holzhauer

Naperville