233 years after the Founding Fathers enshrined a free press into The Constitution, journalists in America and around the world continue to face challenges.
One of the most imposing lies in helping voters make informed decisions during election years. Today's deep divisions don't stop with the electorate.

"I think the biggest challenge is that we have such a fractured media environment now, where people are getting their news, particularly their political news, from only one source," says Bloomberg political reporter Mark Niquette. "And in some cases it's not even a mainstream source, it's something on social media or YouTube."

Niquette shared those challenges with his colleagues Thursday, speaking to members of the Youngstown Press Club.
After 10 years at The Vindicator, he worked his way up to the political team at Bloomberg News.
Having covered every Democratic and Republican National Convention since 2008, Niquette says he sees the most value in close eyes on the vote counting process and rules that govern elections. And while it's a fine line to walk, a journalists' obligation to the truth comes with an element of discretion.

"Maybe there's a balance there of calling out something that's not true without sort of offending people who think that you're taking a judgment that's not accurate," Niquette said. An important reminder with the hopes that our free press can last another 233 years.

"Where do you find news and facts that you trust and how many sources like that do you have available to you?" he rhetorically asked viewers and readers. "And if there is not that kind of source at the local level, we're all the poorer for it."