I don’t have any stats to back that up, but I feel pretty confident in offering up that statement as the truth. I know I’ve made my share over the years and I know it’s likely I’ll do so again.
A newspaper’s job is to deliver the truth to its readers. It should point out when mistakes are made by local decisionmakers — especially when those mistakes have the potential to impact others.
It is the job of news articles to deliver straightforward information, not stories sprinkled with opinions or intentionally slanted to express an opinion. The liberal media doesn’t always do this very well, leading to its detractors to refer to it with such names as, well, … liberal media.
It is the job of the newspaper to weigh in on issues in its community, to offer opinions about decisions that have been or could be made that will affect others. Those opinions should stay where they belong — on the opinion page — along with the community dialogue that can occur when readers take the time to offer their thoughts on subjects presented by the editorial board.
It is also the job of newspapers, in my view, to own up to their mistakes. Newspapers make mistakes, and more than just the typos and grammatical errors that do appear. Mistakes take place when the appropriate time isn’t given to doing the background needed for a sensitive story. Mistakes take place when only one side of the story is heard when forming an opinion.
Nearly all of the time newspapers have an error, a correction is printed — typically in a small, but consisent location — a day or two later and that’s all that’s done about it. Say what you will about the practice, it’s probably not going to change anytime soon as news-holes grow smaller.
But I’d like to acknowledge a mistake I made this week — allowing an editorial to go forth to our readers without doing the proper due diligence, checking the facts and hearing out the other side of the story. Thankfully, our readers let us know and I got an educational earful from more than a few folks.
Obviously, I can’t go back in time and go through that process. But what I can — and will — do is listen to what those who have a different point of view than the Humane Society of the United States have to say about the November referendum vote to ban bear baiting, trapping and hunting with hounds. I’m also working to bring a rebuttal to our editorial to our opinion pages.
Going forward, I’m sure I will make mistakes just like anyone else, but I will continue to strive toward bringing our readers the truth, even on our opinion page.
As always, I welcome readers to contact me with any questions, concerns or complaints. I can be reached at (207) 504-8209 or rmontana@timesrecord.com.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less