One year on, an unwanted heroism: journalism under fire in a global pandemic "Far too many journalists are currently having to take their lives into their hands when they do their jobs," writes Meera Selva Journalists protest against the murder of the Mexican journalist Miroslava Breach in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez Meera Selva This piece is based on a lecture delivered at Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford on 2 March 2021. The piece has been updated with subsequent developments. A free press is needed to provide the flow of information through a society, and also to hold the powerful to account and tell the stories of those who may otherwise not be heard. A free press also paints pictures of our society. It defines us and it defines the national conversation.