In the midst of this journalism crisis, which is not simply about newspapers dying but about quality reporting disappearing across platforms, there was a kernel of hope this week. Call it a moment of sanity. It came during President Obama’s remarks at the memorial service for the late CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite.

Obama said, “Journalism is more than a career; it is a public good vital to our democracy.” Read the full transcript or watch the video:

If you’ve glanced at the news these past few months, you know that the future of the Internet, the fate of quality journalism, the movement to expand local radio, and our right to communicate freely in the United States are all hanging in the balance.

Wish there were someone keeping it all straight for you? There is.

In late July, former CBS news anchor Dan Rather sent murmurs through the journalism world when he called on President Obama to form a White House commission on public media and journalism.

His plea couldn’t be more timely. As news outlets crash and burn and “investigative journalism” becomes a historical relic for the next generation to read about on Wikipedia, Rather said media reform must become a national priority because “a democracy and free people cannot thrive without a fiercely independent press.”

Sen. Al Franken’s (D-Minn.) debut grilling a Supreme Court nominee was no joke. He asked Judge Sonia Sotomayor this week about one of the most pressing issues of our time: Net Neutrality and the future of an open Internet.