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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2018)
. 17-23, 2018 E d it o r ia l Page 3 Write in If you wouId O b to have ' something / y \ / ---------- ____________ that you’ve written published \ \ in our pages, or would / like to get involved as a member of our reporting staff, contact Executive Editor Joanne Zuhl at 503-228-5657, joanne@streetroots.org. We ask that all submissions include the author’s name and contact information, if available. Street Roots 2 11N W D avfeS t Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 Fax:503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org www.news.streetroots.org Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri,, 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. S a t and 7:30-1 p.m. Sun. We won’t give up on truth and free speech emember when the phrase “alternative facts” was understanding on issues important to them, including laughably absurd? It was the term coined by a how our school district deals with teachers accused of White House spokesperson a few days after the misconduct and lead in its drinking water. Because of Trump administration took office - way back when lying hardworking journalists we learned of the crisis in our about the size of the inauguration audience was the foster care system, the gutting of our environment, and most pressing item oil the agenda. the crippling cycles of poverty and homelessness. And Today, the assault by the president against the pillars we have the knowledge to do something about it. of journalism and the public’s right to know has become We can add our voices to the #MeToo movement and far more sinister than we could Black Lives Matter, and we can mourn Michael Brown. have imagined. We can push for real reforms to our‘police forces' and in Today, we’re told by this our courtrooms, and demand that tax dollars spent in H T president not to believe what we our name reflect our true needs and values. . f c 11 J f Jl. Bi llJ lf are seeing. We’re told we’re being We can demand an end to separating children from lied to by reporters. We’re warned their parents as they seek asylum at the border. not to believe so-called “fake We can cast an educated vote. And taken as a whole, we grow to learn the difference news” - defined evidentially as any reports that counter the message fróm the White between what’s real and what’s fake. There can be no doubt that the anti-truth and anti House. “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not media campaign by this administration has empowered those who peddle in lies and fear accountability. Hate what’s happening,” Donald Trump has told the groups have proliferated in our nation in the past three American public. “The fake news media,” he tweeted years. The Southern Poverty Law Center now puts the referring to major news outlets, “is the enemy of the number of groups at nearly 1,000. These groups thrive American people.” in a world without the challenge of fact checkers. They That demands a response. This editorial is part of a coordinated response to the troll their targets online and attack in packs. Entire statements and posture taken by the president to topple online platforms have been created to host openly one of our nation’s defining virtues of democracy: a free racist, homophobic and Islamophobic positions. In this environment, you can’t dismiss the president’s press. rhetoric as simply hyperbole. The Boston Globe has called on editorial boards It’s almost impossible for most of us to imagine our across the country to speak out against the president’s country without a free press. However, millions of unwarranted condemnation of the media industry - people around the world live in that reality, where regardless of their politics. Street Roots is proud to join dictatorships and oligarchs control the narrative and the this campaign. masses are kept in the dark. Not here. Because the statements of this president are not in From the earliest days of this country, the press has the vein of past criticisms that can, in actuality, serve to strengthen the integrity and responsibility of the Fourth been something people love to hate. It will always be, and we can deal with that. The press itself demands a Estate. In fact, the narrative from this White House is critical eye and accountability. It’s a two-way street The not criticism at all, but propaganda from the highest goal should be to refine the process toward truth and pulpit in the land. It has become cliché to quote George clarity, not clear the way for more lies. Orwell’s “1984,” but it is so painfully relevant: “The In America, public discourse, freedom of speech and party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and a free press are fundamental - essential - to our ears. It was the final, most essential command.” democracy, and we must continue to fight for them. Essential, because rejecting facts means rejecting Which brings us back to George Orwell. Orwell wrote accountability for those in power. It means rejecting the “1984” having witnessed the horrors of two world wars, rule of law and our Constitution. And where do we go the rise of fascist dictators, and the tactics used to from there? secure and maintain unfettered power. From that But we beliéve most people understand the role of a vantage, Orwell wrote, “In the time of universal deceit, free press in holding those in power accountable and telling the truth becomes a revolutionary a c t” keeping our government responsible and responsive to We support the revolution. the American people. We know that without that local watchdog, Oregonians would be denied information and R Advertising interested in advertising in Street Roots? Email Andrew Hogan ataridrew@streetats.org S taff Executive Director Kaia Sand kaia@streetroots.org Executive Editor Joanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org Vendor Program Director Cole M erkel cole@ streetroots.org Development Director A n d re w H ogan andrew @ streetroots.org Senior S taff Reporter Emily Green Program Assistant Caelin M iltk o , Jesuit Volunteer Vendor Assistant Scott Jackson, Alex Gillow-Wiles Development Assistant Rosemary Wilson Editorial Producer Monica Kwasnik Reporters Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Emilly Prado, Ellena Rosenthal, Amanda Waldroupe, DeVon Pouncey, Helen Hill Photographers Diego Diaz, Arkady Brown, Celeste Noche Canvasser Desmond Hardison ' Board of Directors Chair Rachel Langford Vice-Chair Dan Jones Treasurer Heather Stadick Secretary Alison Hallett Directors Michael Anderson, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Nels Johnson Volunteers John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali Rathore, Dennis Hogan, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas Buell Jr., Jason Cohen, Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jon Raymond, Diana Richardson, Paul and Madeline Gefroh, Mary Anne Joyce, Brooke Anderson, Gillian Floren, Mark Oldani, Bianca Butler, Camber Hansen- Karr, Miranda Woods, Henry Brannan, Helen Hill, Mary Emerson, Brooke Anderson, Kathleen McFall, Robb Hengerer, Maile Yeats-Rowe, Erin Parsons, Faye Powell, Jon Raymond, Danny Moran and Megan Pickerel-Winer. If you're interested in volunteering . with Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or you can call for more information at 503-228-5657.
