I Went to a No Kings Rally. But Should You?
-first published in Substack blog “The “Last Editor” on October 22. 2025
My wife and I spent a couple hours last Saturday afternoon at a No Kings rally in Palm Springs—and it seems odd for me just to type that. The event was as much fun as you’d expect a rally in Palm Springs to be. The LGBTQ-friendly nature of the city brought out some displays that probably weren’t as common elsewhere. From two gentleman carrying a sign reading, “No Kings for These Queens” to at least a score of inflatable rainbow unicorns costumes, the sights were well worth the stop to see them.
I’ve been to political rallies before, covering them for the news departments that used to employ me. But I’ve never just gone on my own to attend (take part in?) one. It felt weird. My reporting instincts were kicking in, urging me to pick out a few people to interview, get some footage (the photo at the top of the piece is mine) or come up with some follow-up story ideas for later. It was difficult for me to just take part in the event. I eventually settled in, moving to where I could hear the speakers a little better than our first outpost and just soaked up the vibe.
Ultimately, I was alright with my attending as a participant.
I didn’t carry a sign or bring any other props, but I was there fully in support of the mission of the event. Though it felt strange, I was eventually able to reason with myself that it was OK for me to attend, even though I’m still a journalist. Since I don’t work for any newsroom and don’t regularly report for any news broadcasts or publications, I think it’s fine now not to be entirely secretive with my political views. For instance, while I don’t think this Substack I write is particularly political, I’m clearly not 100 percent neutral on politics within its pages.
That has not always been the case. When I worked in and led newsrooms, I used to guard my political beliefs as closely as my ATM PIN. I would challenge anyone who questioned our reporting as being biased to find any evidence in my editorial decisions that betrayed my position on the political spectrum. I can recall, on election night in 2008, feeling a sense of excitement in my newsroom—it was filled with 22-year-olds, I’ll remind you—at the prospect that this country was about to elect its first Black president. I made it a point to tell everyone that, even in the confines of the newsroom, I didn’t want to see any celebration once the results were announced. It was our job to cover the event and keep our emotions to ourselves.
It was the same at home. I had an ongoing disagreement with my wife about putting political signs in our yard. We were in a prime spot for sure, a grand, two-story 1911-vintage house situated on a corner in our neighborhood. My wife wanted to use that valuable real estate to post some campaign signs. I said that, because of my job, we could not do that. She argued it was half her yard, to which I replied, “No one driving by can tell which half is yours and which half is mine.” We never posted the signs.
That need to keep neutral appearances eventually created one of the most notable episodes of my journalism career.
My insistence the journalists at KOMU-TV not wear flag ribbons in the days following the 9/11 attacks garnered headlines across the country and even the world. I’ll leave that full story for another posting, but if you’re unfamiliar with the controversy, suffice it to say I went down to the wire thinking I would lose my job over it. But I never changed my opinion that we were doing it right.
I still believe my actions in 2001 were and are correct and, while I’m not yet ready to endorse any on-air expressions of political positions, I am perhaps softening a bit about what journalists do on their own time to protect the freedom of the press. Attending demonstrations is one small way. It’s clear this administration is looking to undercut press freedoms, from barring news organizations from the White House press room for not calling the body of water off the southern United States the “Gulf of America” to suing news organizations who publish stories the president does not like to requiring reporters to sign off on a “pledge” to only report information authorized by the Department of War. With those and other offenses in mind, journalists should be able to speak up publicly against these actions—including at political rallies.
Our action can—and should—go further than that.
We need to actively question those running for office about their views on press freedoms and spread what we find out through our personal social media and other networks. I see no problem with journalists using their own time to spread information about what candidates (and current office holders) have done to help (or harm) freedom of the press in this country.
This is not new, but we should also double down on lobbying efforts to change the laws to give journalists more freedom, not less. That has been one of the missions of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) for decades. My time there on the board and as chair of the association was a time when we worked tirelessly trying to enact a federal shield law for journalists. That law is yet to be a reality, but the fight goes on. And we should do the same at the local level, opposing legislation that would limit our freedom to report and support bills in those (rare) cases that would increase press freedoms.
To use the parlance of the younger generations, I’m not gonna lie, it felt sort of icky to be at a political rally. Forty-five plus years as a journalist has drilled it into me that it’s not a place I should be. But I can see its value and know that younger journalists won’t come to such events with all the baggage I carry. If they publicly stand up for their rights to report freely about our country, who am I to tell them to stop?