4A
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019
The Observer
OUR VIEW
Earning
the trust
of readers
A recent study produced by the Knight Foundation
and Gallup probably didn’t grab the attention of a lot
of county residents, but it sure caught our gaze.
The study “State of Public Trust in Local News”
carried some good news and some bad news for the
print media in America.
One conclusion the study delivered was Americans
tend to trust their local reporters more than the
national news.
For many of us in the conservative heartland
of Eastern Oregon, that probably isn’t much of a
surprise. But other results of the study were less
heartening for reporters and editors striving to work
in rural areas like Union County.
One key result from the study: About 45% of
Americans have either a “great deal” or “quite a lot”
of trust in local news compared with 31% for nation-
al news. At first glance that stat may seem cause for
celebration, especially in the newspaper industry.
But it isn’t.
That’s because the statistic means more than half
of Americans don’t trust their local press. Even fewer,
obviously, trust our national counterparts.
Much of that could be put squarely on the shoul-
ders of the current political climate we now inhabit,
like it or not, in the United States. Facts tend to be
whatever information fits a political outlook. If the
“facts” don’t fit that political view, then they are
bogus.
As depressing as that is, we in the local and
regional news industry must do more to earn trust
from our readers.
It is simply not just a good idea but, in some ways,
it is a crucial act of self-preservation. The good news
from the study is 79% of Americans find their local
news organizations covering issues that impact their
daily lives.
That is heartening.
The overarching issue, though, boils down to creat-
ing and building trust to ensure democracy thrives.
Residents — voters — can’t make informed deci-
sions about important matters if they don’t have the
information. We at The Observer are the crucial link
between voters and their elected leaders regarding
information flow. Without the information, members
of a democracy are no more than a mob.
Our job, then, is to work hard to be as value-free as
possible regarding the presentation of news. Because
we are human, that is a tall order. Humans makes
mistakes. Humans are fallible.
But readers need to know we will do all we can,
always, to deliver balanced information in our stories.
We believe it to be critical we earn our readers’ trust.
And we do that by presenting information in a fair
and professional manner.
Your views
Vigil: Looking for a
semblance of decency within
the Republican Party
Write to us
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Observer welcomes letters
to the editor. Letters are limited
to 350 words and must be signed
and carry the author’s address and
phone number (for verification
purposes only).
We edit letters for brevity,
grammar, taste and legal reasons.
We do not fact check. We will
not publish poetry, consumer
complaints against businesses or
personal attacks against private
individuals. Thank-you letters are
discouraged.
Letter writers are limited to one
letter every two weeks.
Email your letters to news@
lagrandeobserver.com or mail
them to La Grande Observer, 1406
Fifth St., La Grande 97850.
To the Editor:
Surely, it’s time to stop pussy-footing
around the issue. In addition to the
obvious array of obscenities perpetrated
on the nation, its people and the world
by this president, Trump is also behav-
ing consistently as an agent of a foreign
adversary. Trump is waging a full-
throttle war against our environment
by attacking our clean air, clean water,
climate and health. By ignoring science
time after time, he is risking the very
survival of human civilization. All this
is undertaken in the interests of short-
term profits for the wealthy few.
What is equally obscene is that
Republicans from D.C. to Salem are
displaying a parallel lack of concern for
protecting us from this assault. If only
one Republican in Congress were to
exhibit some integrity and spine and
stand up against the disgusting perfor-
mance in the White House, we’d have
reason to think there remains in that
party some semblance of decency.
If only one Republican in Salem
were to exhibit an ounce of honesty in
addressing climate change in the state
instead of promoting the lies and misin-
formation propounded by industry and
the timber barons, we’d have reason to
think there remains some semblance of
decency within the Oregon Republican
Party.
MY VOICE
My Voice columns should be
500 words. Submissions should
include a portrait-type photograph
of the author. Authors also
should include their full name,
age, occupation and relevant
organizational memberships.
We edit submissions for brevity,
grammar, taste and legal reasons.
We do not fact check. We reject
those published elsewhere.
Send columns to La Grande
Observer, 1406 5th St., La Grande,
Ore., 97850, fax them to 541-963-
7804 or email them to news@
lagrandeobserver.com.
Trisha Vigil
Medford
Slack: Barreto’s legislative
action invested in workers
To the Editor:
Rep. Greg Barreto deserves apprecia-
tion and recognition for taking action
during the 2019 legislative session to
increase wages for Oregon’s Direct Sup-
port Professional (DSPs). The need to
invest in the professionals was greater
than ever, and Rep. Barreto listened
and agreed that the time to invest was
now.
There are more than 30,000 Or-
egonians who experience intellectual
and developmental disabilities, many
here in our community. These people
rely on DSPs to provide residential
services that allow them to maintain
safe, healthy and independent lives.
This work is often physically, mentally
and emotionally challenging work, yet
the average hourly wage was below
$14, which resulted in increased staff
turnover and an inability for employers
to compete for the best employees.
It was clear going into 2019 that
Oregon’s DSPs needed our Legislature
to invest in these great people, and
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A division of
Christy Slack
New Day Enterprises, executive
director, La Grande
Farnum: Arguments against
warming station are
baseless, irrelevant
To the Editor:
This letter is directed to the
La Grande City Council, residents of
La Grande and Union County, concern-
ing the appeal of the permit for the
Union County Warming Station. It is
my conviction as a citizen and a Chris-
tian that any civilized people would
have a minimum safety net for their
most vulnerable neighbors.
It is a blessing that in our commu-
nity we have citizen groups working on
affordable housing, a warming station
and other minimal social needs. The
need and my awareness of the need
grows every day. Every day this appeal
has prevented people from having ac-
cess to warmth and they have suffered.
I believe the appeal should be dis-
missed and those who filed it should be
required to compensate the community
for the suffering people experienced
by joining effort to provide services
and paying a reparation to the Union
County Warming Station effort.
Al Adelsberger and Colleen McLeod
have shown poor judgment in their
arguments, demeaning people suffer-
ing from homelessness and blaming
the warming station for an already
existing problem of homelessness. Their
arguments are baseless, irrelevant and
inhumane. The consequences are that
people are suffering, but some of us in
the community continue to try to help
those in need.
Skye Farnam
Summerville
STAFF
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thankfully they did. Rep. Greg Barreto
recognized the value of the services
DSPs perform and supported raising
their wages.
New Day Enterprises supports the
well-deserved wage increase for DSPs
and thanks Rep. Barreto for voting to
support our valued workforce. We wish
him well in his new endeavors.
541-963-3161
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La Grande, Oregon 97850
Publisher........................................Karrine Brogoitti
Classifieds ........................................ Devi Mathson
Regional circulation director ....................Kelli Craft
Home delivery advisor.................Amanda Fredrick
Editor .....................................................Phil Wright
Customer service rep ......................... Mollie Lynch
News clerk....................................Lisa Lester Kelly
Advertising representative...............Juli Bloodgood
Sports editor .......................................Ronald Bond
Advertising representative...................... Amy Horn
Reporter................................................Dick Mason
Graphic design supervisor................Dorothy Kautz
Reporter....................................Sabrina Thompson
Graphic design ..............................Cheryl Christian
Chris Rush, Regional Publisher