in a free society. His answer was suitably blunt and cynical, "To make money for the publisher."

I freely admit that I have a bone to pick with the reporting profession. Back in 1975, my best friend's older sister committed suicide. She was a beautiful young woman and a good friend. Somehow, a reporter got his hands on her suicide note and published it. It was picked up by the wire services and published all over the country. Her family was already devastated by her death. Following that "news" piece, they had to endure crank letters from all over the country. To this day, if I could get my hands on that man who caused them such pain, I'd so severe bodily harm to him.

I know it's wrong to tarnish all reporters based on the vile acts of this particular one. However, I've seen far too many cases where in their pursuit of "news", they cause a lot of innocent people pain. The Press has a vital responsibility in our society. I'd love for once in my lifetime if they lived up to that responsibility.