When I was a reporter, I had one editor who will forever go down as my favorite. He wore cowboy boots, loved Merle Haggard and hated meetings. Who wouldn’t love him?

He also gave incredible pep talks. Some of his one-liners stay with me to this day, nearly 15 years later. When the paper we working at was getting its buttocks handed to it by our competition on a decades-old story involving the mayor and murder, my favorite editor swiveled around in his seat and said: “Go out and get me a scoop.”

We did. The city we covered was better off because of it.

My editor was a big fan of computer-assisted reporting and he lived to file Freedom of Information Act requests. He challenged us to file as many as we could. We did. Just about every day we filed at least one, if not more than one, FOI request. We made friends with FOI officers everywhere.

We filed requests on TMI, or Three Mile Island, that was close enough that the residents of the county we covered knew where to get the iodine pills from. We sent requests on murder cases, farming accidents and even bird strikes to airplanes. (This was prior to Miracle on the Hudson.)

I now know what a GLOMAR response is because of my editor. (It’s when the government refuses to confirm or deny a record even exists.)

My editor’s most cherished pep talk was the one about what is at the very core of newspaper journalism: Truth. The biggest compliment my editor could, or would, give you is that you “brought truth to the power.”

I am proud of the years that I worked with my favorite editor. We brought a lot of truth to power and the residents that lived in the city we covered were better off because of it. That truth to power made a difference in people’s lives — a real difference.

It wasn’t just a line. We lived it. Most journalists do. If you work at a newspaper and you don’t, well, there are libel laws that will keep you honest.

Sadly, with the demise of newspapers comes the demise of the truth. Who knows how the libel laws apply to the stories that are shared on the internet then aggregated by social media. Check your own Facebook feeds. It is more than sad. It is downright scary.

In this, the information age, there are no gatekeepers. There are no canons of ethics. It truly is a paradise for those who wish to shield the truth from the masses or make up an alternate version of reality. It’s getting harder and harder to tell truth from fiction.

I have not heard of anyone facing a libel suit for spreading false or inaccurate information on Facebook. Anyone can post a meme with whatever falsehood they like. False stories from what appear to be news sites abound, claiming Hillary this or Donald Trump that. Some of their claims are so outlandish it is easy to tell that the stories are false. Other times, the line has become so blurred who knows?

Ownership concerns also shed a dark cloud over the truth. Whose truth are we getting? Many newspapers have been gobbled up in recent years by competitors. Some private equity firms now hold major positions in some of the country’s largest newspapers. Who owns what? What is their interest? Where does that leave the reader? Believe it or not, most journalists really do care about the reader.

Then, there are the stories of ABC’s and CNN’s close relationship with Hillary, and Fox News spreading false stories of an alleged indictment days before the election. Steve Bannon’s use of Breitbart news and certain nonprofit news organization to influence the election also surfaced after the votes were cast.

One story that really hit home was an anchor at a news channel in Greensboro, N.C. holding handcuffs as she read the results of an Elon poll days before the election. Perhaps because I used to live in Greensboro, and started my career in journalism down the road in Burlington, I had a hard time digesting what I was seeing. The stunt that so crosses a line made me both sad and angry for a profession that is already under attack. I actually emailed the news director. I also filed an FCC complaint against the station.

In the scheme of things, most people might not think the fake news or the use of handcuffs in a story about an election poll really matters. I disagree. Many people despise the media. Check out the photo of the man wearing a shirt that encourages lynching journalists. So who cares if there are fewer reporters, editors and photographers? Anybody with an iPhone and a wifi connection can do their jobs.

To some extent, I guess that is true. Anybody can tell a story. Not everybody can take truth to the power.

Can you tell the difference between the stories that are real and the ones that are fake in your Facebook feed? Where are you getting your news from? Are they sources you can trust? Have you ever heard of these “news” organizations before?

Facebook will ask you what you want to see in your newsfeed. Facebook does not ask you whether or not you care if the “news” you are seeing is real.

Why does it matter? Those who control the truth, or their version of it, control the people. Look at Flint, Mich. Flint’s daily newspaper stopped publishing every day and went to three days a week. The paper cut 82 people from its staff. It was an investigative journalist for the Michigan ACLU, Curt Guyette, who broke the story about Flint’s water, according to the Columbia Journalism Review.

I am sure the fine people of Flint are thankful that he did. They probably would have been more appreciative if the local paper or website had brought truth to the power sooner, but at least somebody did. Do you think the people of Flint would still be drinking tainted water if Curt Guyette had not unearthed that story?

Here is the thing: we are running out of people who bring truth to the power. We are losing our fourth estate. In reality, we may have already lost it. The fourth estate is part of that whole checks and balances thing. Without it, those in power can act corruptly with impunity. If you believe they won’t, visit your library and ask them to dig out old newspaper clips. History left unchecked has a way of repeating itself.

Now more than ever we need a fourth estate. We need the kind of journalism that brings truth to the power. Maybe the days of Woodward and Bernstein and Katherine Graham’s Washington Post are behind us. I so hope not. Maybe Jeff Bezos will turn it around at the Washington Post. I pray that he does. Maybe Donald Trump’s election has taught us all a costly lesson about the need for a fourth estate. Suddenly there is a renewed interest in subscriptions to the New York Times. That is great.

But, just remember this. Your statehouse elections matter a lot, too. In fact, it is the state legislatures that determine how we vote and other important issues that can affect things like national politics. I can tell you first-hand statehouse newsrooms have been gutted in the last 10 years.

Without a fourth estate, without editors, reporters, photographers and copy editors, there is no filter. There is no gatekeeper. You want to know what gets through when there is no gatekeeper? Lies, untruths and more lies.

It threatens our collective intelligence. It threatens our freedoms. It threatens our democracy and our ability to make informed decisions about who runs our government and how.

Hopefully, more investigative reporters such as Guyette working for nonprofits will fill the void that most daily newspapers have left behind. Perhaps the so-called “traditional” media will see a new and sustained interest from paying customers and advertisers.

Until that happens, I am going to do my best to avoid posting or sharing memes on Facebook. I also will try and post news from sites that I know are reputable news organizations such as the New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, The Atlantic and other news organization that have a lengthy history and have been fully vetted.

Those are news organizations that check facts and adhere to a canon of ethics. The list is getting smaller by the minute. It won’t put a dent in the avalanche of false news stories making the rounds on social media, but it is my small way of still giving a nod to my old editor. It is, in a small way, still bringing truth to the power.

I am also going to subscribe to the New York Times and The Washington Post. I have missed holding a paper in my hands while I drink my coffee. What can you do?