Though I am a geographer and urban planner by profession, I regard journalism as the most important profession in the world. I grew up in a household where journalism was valued. In my memoir, I detail how the very first piece of literature that I ever read was a pamphlet about Iqbal Masih and the plight of other child slaves in Nepal.

Though I wasn’t even a teenager when my late mother made me read that pamphlet, the work of the journalists who produced it shaped my politics. I have immeasurable respect for journalists and I believe, wholeheartedly, that journalism is a critical force for social change. However, this belief has been shaken a lot over the past few years...