Canaries provided early warnings of dangerous carbon monoxide in coal mines for centuries. Carbon monoxide is odorless and, therefore, a silent killer. Coalminers learned to take canaries into the mine with them. If the canary died, it signaled the presence of deadly gas. A canary in a coal mine was standard safety procedure until 1981. According to The Smithsonian magazine, Britain (In December 1986) officially outlawed the use of canaries in the coal mine and ruled in favor of “electronic noses,” gas detectors with digital readings.
The term “canary in the coal mine,” became a common metaphor for an early warning sign of impending danger. So today’s “canary in the coal mine” warns of current and expansive muting of the press, threatening our society as we know it. Today’s news organizations are often hobbled by partisan censorship — distorting reality and infecting societal comity. I can’t say with certainty, but I am convinced that some strong, independent news sources are our “canaries in the coal mine.”
These independent news sources struggle to balance strong, accurate news gathering and the dissemination of news on tight budgets. They send journalists into the depths of events and developments that have impactful results and implications. Print newspapers are falling like pecans in Albany, GA, in the Fall, and with their decline, accurate and in-depth reporting goes with them.
What is going on with affordable housing in our town? What truly is happening in transportation issues around us? Who or what is happening to and within our Education system? How are we ensuring our election system is available to every citizen?
Investigative journalists with independent news media dig deeply beneath the hype and sensationalism. They discover the basics of an issue, digging into its background and matters that influenced it. I remember when a Georgia governor railed against “Those lyin’ Atlanta newspapers” for exposing local corruption, exposing some questionable actions.
Free Press is a standard for the health of democracy. Democracy is not a political party; democracy is a government where all citizens choose their leaders by voting. It is not government by conglomerate corporations, run by their super-wealthy. Democracy is not government run by over-funded political action committees.
Some people contend that certain citizens should not vote because they are less-educated, speak differently, or are deemed ignorant. The free press is a valuable, legitimate vehicle for informing our residents. The free press provides fair, unbiased information, as contrasted to packaged, constructed commentary, so commonly heard over the past year.
©Copyright Willis H. Moore 2026
Good reading. Hope you are warm and safe