Until recently, it had barely crossed my mind that any thoughtful person would consider a free press “the enemy of the people.’’

It was just another empty, dopey slogan. Like “Crooked Hillary.’’ Or “fake news!’’

I was forced to reassess a bit last week. As word spread of a campaign by the Globe’s opinion page that spurred hundreds of newspapers to write editorials declaring that we are not, in fact, against the citizenry, an unusual scene began to unfold at the Globe’s headquarters. There was no mistaking the state of alert, the increased security presence. It turns out we had received some hostile phone calls, a few of them particularly threatening.

Unnerving, of course, but not surprising.

This is the natural byproduct, I suppose, of this truly unprecedented administration, one that will stop at nothing to silence criticism, no matter how legitimate, and that considers facts as contingent, and often inconvenient.

To state the obvious: The press is not the enemy.

From the standpoint of an obsessive political observer, this moment represents a true crossroads. On one side, the president and his supporters dig in deeper by the day, dividing the world into allies and (mostly) enemies. Look no farther than the threat to revoke security clearances held by former intelligence officials, if you want evidence of an administration at war with dissent.

But on the other side, we are weeks from elections that could substantially alter the political landscape. One of President Trump’s accidental accomplishments has been to breathe new life into progressive politics. Remember how people used to say the two political parties weren’t that different? I haven’t heard anyone say that lately.

I don’t think the president really believes that the press is the enemy of the people. I think he believes that facts often get in his way. That’s a completely different proposition.

I was heartened not just by the size of the response to the call to stand up for the press, but by the breadth of it. Editorial boards from across the country, and across the political spectrum, agreed on one thing: that the cheap attacks they are subject to are unwarranted. That kind of consensus is no small thing.

When I say consensus, I’m not suggesting there was unanimity. Some critics argued that the whole effort played into Trump’s hands, by reinforcing the notion that the media is united against him. In some political sense, they may have a point. But if the media isn’t supposed to speak out in favor of the press, who will? How can it be verboten to say that our mission is being cynically distorted for dubious ends?

I’m not being a Pollyanna here. We make mistakes — of fact, of emphasis, of omission.

We also: expose government corruption, stand up for the voiceless, keep politicians honest, and tell the stories, large and not so large, of our communities.

As the editorials were rolling out, they were accompanied by a sobering reminder of how important that job can be.

A grand jury report in Pennsylvania revealed that hundreds of priests, over a period of decades, have been involved in sexual abuse. The disclosure was the latest in a long series that have rattled the Catholic Church worldwide, and it instantly reverberated across the country.

Singled out for mention in the report was the work of the Globe Spotlight Team in bringing the scandal to prominence. The stories — and the Academy Award-winning movie “Spotlight’’ they inspired — encouraged many victims to come forward with their stories of abuse. Those stories shook the world, and continue to.

At its best, that’s what the press does.

I don’t harbor any illusions that the verbal attacks on the media are going to let up. But if the campaign causes people to stop and think about why a free press matters, it accomplished its goal.

Enemy of the people?

We’re part of “the people.’’

Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at adrian.walker@globe.com.