4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| AUGUST 18, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
C
The First Amendment
ongress shall make no law respecting an es-
tablishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press, or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
Th e ripple eff ect of ‘fake news’ accusations
And, yes, the Siuslaw News
is among those mentioned by
The Globe.
Truth be told, the pres-
ident’s opinion, tweets or
statements mean little in the
context of our daily work
polls more than 400 times,
according to a CNN analysis.
In addition, The Washing-
ton Post publishes a running
report on the president’s spo-
ken and tweeted falsehoods
which, as of today, add up
nizations and charters within
every community where a
journalist takes notes and
reports the news.
We’re not perfect. We make
mistakes. When we do, we
own up to — and correct —
This past Thursday, hun-
them. (See page A2 of today’s
dreds of newspapers, large
edition.)
and small, participated in a
Just like there is a differ-
nationwide call to denounce
ence between tabloid news,
Ned Hickson
President Trump’s continued
social media rumor and
blanket portrayal of jour-
American news institutions
nalists as “The enemy of the
like The New York Times,
people,” proponents of “fake
here as journalists. We are a
to more than 4,000 since his
Washington Post and Boston
news” and members of the
communtiy newspaper with
inauguration.
Globe, there is a difference
“opposition party.”
the job of providing news, in-
That trend and the blanket between an unintentional
The collective voice of
formation and context on the statements made by our pres- error and purposely manu-
editorials was initiated by
things that directly impact
ident labeling journalists and factured conjecture.
the The Boston Globe, which those who live here.
media as “the enemy” and
We have nothing to gain
wrote in an editorial the day
However, in the same way
perpetrators of “fake news”
by losing credibility with the
before: “Today in the United
trends in things such as fash- has created a ripple effect that communities we serve, which
States, we have a president
ion, music or language that
has made its way into com-
is why we take correcting any
who has created a mantra that begin on one coast inevitably munities across the nation.
mistakes as seriously as we do
members of the media who
make their way to the other,
This includes our own,
to avoid making them in the
do not blatantly support the
the same can be said for cul-
where cries of “fake news!”
first place.
policies of the current U.S.
tural and social trends.
and “opposition party mem-
The same day that edi-
administration as being the
This is nothing new.
bers!” have made their way
tors were publishing their
‘enemy of the people.’”
What is new is how quickly into social media comments, opinions on the matter, the
The president’s response
the ripple effect of those
voicemails, emails and
U.S. Senate, in a unanimous
Thursday morning was swift, trends make their way from
whispers at public meetings
vocal vote, passed a resolu-
delivered via Twitter, in
coast to coast, community
when reporting on volatile or tion that “affirms the press is
which he charged that: “The
to community, thanks to our controversial subjects.
not the enemy of the people”
Globe is in COLLUSION with national and global inter-
As the Houston Chronicle
and “condemns attacks on the
other papers on free press!”
connectivity. This is espe-
said in its editorial, “[The
institution of the free press.”
Regardless, The Globe’s
cially true now, in a time of
president’s] broad brush
In my mind, that vote
appeal for newspaper editors tribalism which hastens us to stroke undermines the collec- underscores the real notion
and editorial boards to
pick sides rather than engage tive credibility of thousands
behind the freedom of the
publish opinion pieces on
in dialogue that explores
of American journalists
press, which is that the most
the topic resulted in nearly
perspectives.
across the country who are
important vote we make is
400 editorials in newspapers
In his first year as presi-
the watchdogs over their
one we take of confidence in
across the country, from the
dent, Donald Trump used the branches of government.”
one another.
Miami Herald to the Boise
word “fake” in referring to
This includes local, county
Weekly.
news stories, the media and
and state governments, orga-
From the Editor’s Desk
USPS# 497-660
Copyright 2018 © Siuslaw News
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon.
A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.
Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O.
Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent
to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com.
Jenna Bar tlett
Ned H ickson
Erik Chalhoub
Publisher, ex t. 318
Editor, ex t. 313
Co n s u l t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3
echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com
M ar k e t i n g Di re c to r, e x t . 3 2 6
O ffice Super visor, ex t. 312
Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r
Pre s s M a n a ge r
Su s a n G u t i e r re z
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Je re my G e n t r y
DEADLINES:
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classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m.
Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication;
Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads,
Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m.
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Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com
Letters to the Editor policy
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as
part of a community discussion of issues on the local,
state and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed
letters must be signed. All letters need to include full
name, address and phone number; only name and city
will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300
words. Letters are subject to editing for length, gram-
mar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaran-
teed and depends on space available and the volume of
letters received.
Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative,
sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or
documented will not be published.
Letters containing poetry or from outside the Siuslaw
News readership area will only be published at the dis-
cretion of the editor.
Political/Election Letters:
Election-related letters must address pertinent or
timely issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing cam-
paigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any
information about a candidate is accurate, fair and not
from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) ex-
plain the reasons to support candidates based on per-
sonal experience and perspective rather than partisan-
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Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the
editor column to outline their views and platforms or to
ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the news-
paper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general
manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any let-
ter that doesn’t follow the above criteria.
Emal letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
LETTERS
B ITS AND PIECES OF F LORENCE HISTORY
I wanted to thank all the people who
made the special edition of “City of Flor-
ence; 125 years” possible. As a relative
newcomer to this town, I thoroughly
enjoyed learning the bits and pieces of
Florence history highlighted.
Great job!
—Cris Reep
Florence
J OURNALISTS ARE NEEDED TODAY ,
NOW MORE THAN EVER
As a Florence resident and contribut-
ing columnist to our paper, I was thrilled
to see the Siuslaw News mentioned in the
Aug. 15 New York Times editorial about
media supporting the First Amendment
on #FreePressDay (www.nytimes.com/
interactive/2018/08/15/opinion/edito
rials/free-press-local-journalism-news-
donald-trump.html).
Despite many Americans’ disenchant-
ment with today’s media, journalists are
needed more than ever to protect the
freedom of information. Fake media ex-
isted long before the term became a buzz
word, but we relied on vigilant report-
ers to read in between the lines of news
sources, websites and press releases to
discern fact from propaganda.
As the Times editorial emphasizes,
journalists are not “the enemy of the
people” — we are the people — the voic-
es of the voiceless, champions of the un-
derdog, the spotlight on corruption; and
also that helpful informant of daily road
closures, accident reports and weather
alerts, including community posts on
Facebook during “off-hours.”
But like first-responders, there never
really are any off-hours in public service
labors of love.
Journalism is the soul of democracy.
It’s why our forefathers established free-
dom of speech and freedom of the press
as the First Amendment instead of the
fifth or 15th.
Thanks to our local press for uphold-
ing this sacred tradition and for partici-
pating in The Boston Globe’s national call
for media solidarity (www.bostonglobe.
com/opinion/editorials/2018/08/15/
editorial/Kt0NFFonrxqBI6NqqennvL/
story.html)
WHERE TO WRITE
The Times editorial concludes with a
wise reminder: “If you haven’t already,
please subscribe to your local papers.
Praise them when you think they’ve
done a good job and criticize them when
you think they could do better. We’re all
in this together.”
—Catherine J. Rourke
Freelance Journalist
Florence
T HANKS FOR FORUM
ON P ARKS M ASTER P LAN
I’m writing to express my thanks to
the team from Lane County who gave a
comprehensive presentation on the draft
master plan for Lane County Parks at a
community forum in Florence.
The team included Dan Hurley, the
new head of the Public Works Depart-
ment; Brett Henry, the new manager of
the Parks Division; and Charlie Conrad,
a parks supervisor.
They did an excellent job of describ-
ing the work of the task force in coming
up with the plan, and the input received
from Florence and Mapleton during pre-
vious workshops.
I am a member of the task force repre-
senting the coastal district and a founder
and coordinator of Friends of Harbor
Vista Park. I especially appreciated the
acknowledgement given to me and the
Friends by Dan and Charlie for our con-
tributions to the master plan and our
demonstration of how partnerships, like
the Friends group, can help implement
the goals of the plan.
Especially notable in the plan is the
strategy to create a position for a coun-
ty-wide volunteer coordinator and the
establishment of an umbrella non-profit
to assist other Friends groups. In outlin-
ing this strategy, the presenters specifi-
cally pointed to the successful fundrais-
ing effort by the Friends of Harbor Vista
to purchase a sound system for the park.
The effort was community based and
assisted by the Siuslaw News in an article
about the Park.
Jay Bozievich, the county commis-
sioner representing the coast, was in the
audience along with a number of people
eager to give input.
Sometime in the late fall the finished
master plan will be presented to the
county commissioners for approval.
Lane County residents can still review
the master plan online and give input on
a comment form until Aug. 30 at www.
lanecounty.org/parksplan.
—Michael Allen
Task Force Member
Florence
Pres. Donald Tremp
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
(Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane Coenty
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us