As I read about the new federal definition of rape ("New federal definition of rape formally approved," Jan. 6), I couldn't help but marvel how much of today's population doesn't get the importance of newspapers in a free society. The article indicated that women's advocates that wanted an updated definition of rape were spurred on, in part, by reporting done by The Sun showing misclassified rapes and assaults.
This is a prime example of newspapers as society's watchdog. Newspapers bring issues to light, shine a beacon on areas that otherwise would remain in the dark. I shudder to think what is going to happen when the last paper publishes the last edition. Will there be investigating reporters on-line?
When friends tell me they get their news from the Internet, I ask them where do they think that information comes from in the first place? The answer is, of course, newspapers. Freedom of the press has never been in as much danger as it is today. And how ironic that it isn't the government that's shutting it down. It's that the citizens don't realize its value.
Barbara Blumberg, Baltimore