What does the quote mean The job of a journalist is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable?

The quote can be traced to satirist Finley Peter Dunne, who wrote a popular column in the voice of an opinionated Irish-American bartender named "Mr. Dooley." According to Mr. Dooley,Th newspaper does ivrything f'r us. It runs th' polis foorce an' th' banks, commands th' milishy, controls th' ligislachure, baptizes th' young, marries th' foolish, comforts th' afflicted, afflicts th' comfortable, buries th' dead an' roasts thim aftherward.

While many journalists repeat the quote as a badge of honor, Mr. Dooley seems to have been criticizing the press for overstepping its proper bounds.

This quote is also often attributed to social activist Mary "Mother" Jones, who claimed it as her purpose, and various religious leaders have done the same. But the quote's appearance in the popular film Inherit the Wind, where it is spoken by a newsman, seems to have linked it most closely to journalism.