I have been a journalist in reality or spirit since age 15, when I convinced the editor of the weekly paper in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates where I grew up to let me cover high-school sports for 25 cents a column inch.

Now I'm the president and executive director of the Ohio News Media Association, and I am worried about the future of local journalism in this country. It's bad enough that the business model is sustaining potentially fatal damage. Now we have a president who is taking direct aim at the First Amendment. Not that "the media" (though it has never been a monolith) is without sin, but this is dangerous. (I agree with Trump on some things, by the way, but find his style and methods disturbing if not despicable.)

We need to be talking "to" each other more and "at" each other less.

From time to time, I'll post some of the columns I write for our members at ONMA. You might find them interesting, and I welcome comments.

You can find all my member columns at www.ohionews.org. Here's a recent one I wrote about what happened to open government in Ohio during the past two years: http://ohionews.org/aws/ONA/pt/sd/news_article/131918/_self/layout_details/false