Journalists around the world are following with great interest what is happening in America, with President Donald Trump openly declaring that the media there are against the country. Amazingly, a good portion of his support base continues to support this tirade without question and many Americans are beginning to wonder whether cracks are emerging in the very core of democracy for that nation.

Apart from the American media, the world’s press are watching with concern that journalism, which is basically committed to truth as a guiding principle, is facing what could be a significant challenge from those who refuse to accept anything outside of their version of the truth, even when evidence tells a different story. In the world of politics where words can make or break an image, the task of keeping truth out front for journalists becomes extremely complex, especially when some politicians frown on truth when it shows them in a bad light.

Journalists should never be blamed for carrying out their duties to keep the public informed, no matter how much criticism is levelled at them by those in positions of power. This is a dilemma that journalists are confronted with daily.

Why so much attention is being focused on America in this area is because the battle to uphold truth is seen as critical when it involves the White House, whose leadership is expected to be the front-runner in ensuring that truth, transparency and human dignity are key principles in conducting the nation’s business.

Should a politician look out of a window and say the sun is shining brightly, and a journalist looking out of the same window seeing heavy rain, we know both cannot be right. That may not be the greatest analogy, but the point is clear: so often truth is bypassed for political gain, and without the eyes of good journalists, the public would remain in the dark. That is always dangerous because those with dictatorial motives prefer to keep truth out of the picture in their objectives to either maintain or seek power.

For journalism students who aspire to the profession, it must be disturbing to witness the most powerful nation on Earth confused over how Democrats and Republicans are not able to merge when there is an issue with evidence clearly showing what really happened. Surely this was the case with the Charlottesville tragedy, when the whole world saw what happened.

Journalists were there to tell the story at considerable risk, with people obsessed with racist and ethnic hate pouring into the city chanting “blood and soil”, a phrase from the Nazi era in Germany. If that was a peaceful demonstration, as claimed by the President, then we should expect to see birds flying with no wings. When violent scuffles broke out, with one young woman losing her life when a car was driven through the crowd, most journalists knew something bad was happening — and the only way to tell the story was to report truth.

Leaders in the political world operating under the banner of democracy are expected during critical periods to exercise a calming quality of comprehension of what is happening in order to provide assurance to all that right will be upheld and wrong will be condemned. Democracy is not limited to certain groups. It is the leader who must find a way towards calmer waters when negative, emotional waves threaten the order of a decent society.

When leaders fail to be accountable during a crisis, the people have a right to question competency. Journalists are duty-bound to report views from the people, along with any reaction from those in authority. They are not judges of a situation, but have the responsibility of seeking truth to keep accountability out front.

People in all democratic jurisdictions, including our lovely Bermuda, should never take anything for granted. This is not to say there is any reason to doubt our present leaders; we should support them in their service to the public and respect them. However, this is not a perfect world, and even though journalism is not perfect, they are the guardians who do great work around the world in trying to hold leaders accountable.

A lesson from America at the moment is that the people need to be aware of any leader who shows signs of fearing truth.