The Daily Northwestern published an editorial on Nov. 10 following former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s visit to campus and a retaliating student protest.

“Addressing The Daily’s coverage of Sessions protests” apologizes for a so-called misdeed that’s become more villainized than ever in recent years: being journalists.

Having “sent a reporter to cover that talk and another to cover the students protesting his invitation to campus, along with a photographer,” The Daily claimed basic journalistic tactics “contributed to the harm students experienced” following said students’ choices to protest in public.

This response is not only pathetic – it’s dangerous.

As the student newspaper of arguably the greatest journalism college in the world, it is expected that the paper’s editorial board knows how to act as such.

With this unwarranted apology, The Daily is giving in to the increasing attacks on media – only this time, it’s coming from the left wing. This crusade has been traditionally led by the right.

Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has targeted the press. He’s called journalists “among the most dishonest human beings on earth” and “the enemy of the American people.” He mocked a disabled reporter on live television, and brought the term “fake news” into the mainstream.

Under his presidency, today’s political scene is arguably more hostile toward journalists than ever. Now we are suffering attacks from every end of the political spectrum.

Our society views journalists as inherently fraudulent. While fake news is a growing issue, it is dangerous for people to lose faith in credible media sources due to a fraction of incidents suggesting otherwise.

One more thing Trump has in common with tyrants like Kim-Jong Un is his goal to alienate the press from the people, pulling their trust away from credible news sources and toward his own biased narrative.

Without a free press, we ourselves are not free. Trump knows this.

The same way he strives to paint sources like The New York Times as the enemy of the people, the students who pressured The Daily into apologizing for honest, outspoken reporting want to villainize college journalists for making information available to their peers.

We need to be strong. The world is full of controversial events that need to be covered. So long as we abide by the basic principles of journalistic integrity, we cannot let feelings get in the way of providing the public with the truth they deserve.

If events are reported properly, as they were by The Daily, there is no need to be apologetic.

Rather, we are obligated to remain firm in our convictions.

To stray from the industry’s values would allow the opponents of free speech to take control – of the White House, the college campus, and the information we are fed.

In doing so, we surrender in the face of pressure by abandoning our foundational values of democracy and honesty in their darkest hour.