Discrediting media a dangerous plan

There have been more and more cries of “Fake News” being hurled in all directions we aren’t even sure what it means anymore. What we do know is that discrediting the press is one of the most dangerous things a society can do.

Do we make mistakes? Sure. Can we get everything right every time? No.

We are human much like the readers of this newspaper are. We screw stuff up and we make mistakes. It’s going to happen, even with an editor looking things over and a trained professional asking questions.

The reason you know we screw things up on occasion isn’t because the President is just recently bringing that into light, but rather because we tell readers with corrections, omissions, and other types of reports of error.

If the media was so fake then why would we bother correcting ourselves?

No matter your politics, I would encourage you to consider your use of the term “Fake News” before you use it next. It’s a strong turn of phrase and something that calls into the integrity of everyone from the New York Times to the Hillsboro Free Press. If we screw something up, we aren’t “Fake News”, but rather just human, and we will correct the error if you alert us and there is actually an error to correct and not just a difference of opinion on that page.

We hope you will consider our plea and remember that a free press is something that helps protect society. We work for the people and report to the people, not to government, so that might be why those in government want to discredit it occasionally. That makes us the opposite of the enemy of the people.

- Joey Young, Publisher

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