At 'Nerd Prom,' a South Africa native looks at Ukraine and reminds us of the blessings of an unfettered, fearless press

The White House Correspondents Association Dinner, aka the Nerd Prom, is annually disparaged for eroding public confidence in journalists' ability to hold Washington, D.C., officials accountable. "Everyone in the room is in a tuxedo or gown; 'reporters' and government 'subjects' sit shoulder to shoulder at the dinner tables, raising glasses of wine and laughing at one another’s jokes; a general mood of 'we’re all in the club' prevails," James Fallows writes in Breaking the News on Substack. But Saturday night, Fallows was impressed by the very serious concluding remarks of comedian Trevor Noah, a native of South Africa, and so were we, so here they are:

“Whether you like it or not, [the press] is a bastion of democracy. And if you ever begin to doubt your responsibilities, if you ever begin to doubt how meaningful it is, look no further than what's happening in Ukraine. … You realize how amazing it is like in America you have the right to seek the truth and speak the truth. Even if it makes people in power uncomfortable even if it makes your viewers or your readers uncomfortable.

“Understand how amazing that is. I stood here tonight and I made fun of the President of the United States and I'm going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. Right? [Gestures to Biden, in a joking way. Biden claps.] Do you really understand what a blessing it is?…. Honestly, ask yourself this question: If Russian journalists who are losing their livelihoods and their freedom for daring to report on what the own government is doing… If they had the freedom to write any words, to show any stories, to ask any questions—if they had basically what you have—would they be using it in the same way that you do? Ask yourself that question every day.”