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How we report fairly during divided times

I was invited recently to speak at a community meeting on the topic of the challenges of producing a “politically neutral newspaper in increasingly partisan times.”

Fortunately for me (or unfortunately), the topic didn’t involve a lot of research. It’s my reality these days.

Generally speaking, remaining fair and balanced when reporting on just about any topic shouldn’t be difficult, really. You talk to a source, you get his or her side of the story. Then, you find someone with an opposing viewpoint, you talk to him or her. You write the story and present both sides.

Simple, right?

Frankly, the act of reporting a story really isn’t difficult. Nowadays, we still do everything we’ve always done as long as I’ve been in this business. We juggle a lot of stories, we try to keep our thumb on the pulse of things, we try to know which sources are generally accurate and reputable, we independently verify everything that can be and we still work hard to get both sides of every story.

But with the growing American and global divide in, well, everything, and with the empowerment brought about largely by social media triggering an increasing boldness among members of the public, things have gotten a little more complicated.

What’s gotten more challenging, really, isn’t the reporting, but the dealing with the broad range of reactions that we get to our coverage.

It’s true that in years past the media, in general, didn’t face the global questioning and criticism that we do today. But then again, the stories published in your local newspaper stayed closer to home. We weren’t sharing them online with the world. Likewise, readers weren’t responding to them with online and social media posts that were going around the world.

Sure, there were instances when sources would lash out because they didn’t like what we reported. As a cub reporter, I recall being personally called out during a local city council meeting by a city department head who was displeased with the angle of a story that shed a negative light on him.

Back then, writing a letter to the editor — and then waiting and hoping for it to be published — or speaking out at a public meeting really were a few of the very limited ways for people to voice their opinion publicly.

Nowadays, Facebook and Twitter make people feel more empowered. Suddenly, anyone can feel like a news reporter, posting pretty much whatever they like. They can post their views with no filter.

Great! This is America. We are entitled to our own opinions, right? Yes, but a wise man recently pointed out to me that while we have a right to our own opinion, we don’t have a right to make up our own set of facts.

Sadly, it’s become way too easy for anyone to paint false narratives online. People can create fake videos and memes, they can edit photographs to paint a false picture, they can make inaccurate or unfair statements or present one side of a story without the need for any balance that reputable journalists always, always include.

It’s the facts, the truth and the accuracy that protects journalists from accusations of libel. And it’s our balance and fairness that protects journalists’ reputations.

Without that trust of our readers — based on our history of accuracy and fairness — what ground do we have?

As a daily publication serving your local community, we understand the responsibility we bear. We know how important it is to report accurately, swiftly and fairly.

So, how do I ensure that we work hard to produce a politically neutral newspaper in increasingly partisan times?

We do it like we always have. By ensuring that we are balanced and accurate in all our reporting. And when readers or sources call to question a story’s accuracy, fairness or direction, we listen and we discuss it openly. If we are wrong, we say we are wrong and we correct it.

And then we try even harder the next time.

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