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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2019)
4A | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove Sentinel 116 N. Sixth St. Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424 NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR | Opinion 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment 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 Govern- ment 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) USPS#133880 Copyright 2019 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL Letters to the Editor Policy The Sentinel 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, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed 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anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside The Sentinel readership area will only be published at the discretion 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 campaigns 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) explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric. 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 newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Send letters to: Will we allow ourselves to be informed or distracted? protected by the intellect sons of trust between of an informed society. the American people One of the key ingre- and those who govern, dients to a foundation whether it be in Wash- strong enough to support ington D.C., state govern- While watching cov- the weight of democracy ment, a national corpora- erage of the Democratic debates along with my normal intake of national From the Editor’s Desk news, I switched between Ned Hickson CNN, ABC, FOX-News, CBS and others. I read news articles online and within our Constitution tion or with local officials in print. Even after two is the freedom given to and institutions. The trust we place in years, I continue to be the press. Its intention struck by how one event is to guarantee a level of journalism is one of the can be seen so differently transparency within the cornerstones of main- by so many news orga- government and, just as taining a unified, peace- nizations — nearly all of importantly, keep gov- ful society. Without the which had a clear slant, ernment from manipu- trust and belief that we lating the information its are an informed people, whether for or against. the ensuing uncertainty When our forefathers citizenry receives. Shortly after the Mis- is fertile ground for cha- included Freedom of the Press in the Consti- souri School of Journal- os, mistrust and division. Today’s Information tution, they knew it was ism was established in 1906, its founder, Wal- Age, thanks to the inter- a double-edged sword with as much potential ter Williams, wrote The net and social media, has to do harm as it could to Journalist’s Creed. With- forged its own two-edged sword with the potential ensure the exchange of in it are these words: I believe that clear to do as much harm as factual communication free from governmental thinking, truthful state- good. In the late 1950s, ments, accuracy and fair- iconic newsman Edward interference. However, they knew it ness are fundamental to R. Murrow recognized was a risk that needed to good journalism, and that this paradox. News re- be taken if America was the supreme test of any porting was being trans- going to have a chance journalist is the measure formed from the purely word-driven medium of at establishing a peaceful of their public service. Journalists are liai- radio into a much more democracy — one that is powerful visual medium of television. In 1955, during an awards dinner where he was the keynote speak- er, Murrow spoke of the new television medium and the paradox it pre- sented for journalists and our society; it’s a paradox we find ourselves facing once again in the age of social-media-style jour- nalism — and in particu- lar, the ease in which as- sumption can be passed along as fact. In his speech, Murrow challenged us to utilize the new medium of tele- vision as a way to en- hance our understanding of issues and each other. “Otherwise,” he said in his final remark, “televi- sion is nothing more than lights in a box.” As we enter into the upcoming election sea- son — both nationally and within our own com- munities — we need to ask ourselves whether the age of information will enhance our understand- ing or simply distract us with the lights inside the small boxes in our hands. nhickson@cgsentinel.com HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS Oregon state representatives Oregon federal representatives • Sen. Floyd Prozanski • Rep. Peter DeFazio District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, Ore. 97440 Phone: 541-342-2447 Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@ state.or.us (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: defazio.house.gov/ contact/email-peter Phone: 541-465-6732 • Rep. Cedric Hayden Republican District 7 State Representative 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301 Phone: 503-986-1407 Website: www.leg.state.or. us/hayden Email: rep.cedrichayden@ state.or.us • Sen. Ron Wyden 405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: wyden.senate.gov Phone: (541) 431-0229 • Sen. Jeff Merkley Email: merkley.senate.gov Phone: 541-465-6750 S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 Administration Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher Gary Manly, General Manager... Ext. 1207 gmanly@cgsentinel.com Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216 gsantana@cgsentinel.com Veronica Brinkley, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1205 vbrinkley@cgsentinel.com Carla Summers, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203 csummers@cgsentinel.com Editorial Ned Hickson, Managing Editor... 541-902-3520 nhickson@cgsentinel.com Damien Sherwood, Lead Reporter... Ext. 1212 dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Nick Snyder, Sports & Education Reporter... Ext. 1204 nsnyder@cgsentinel.com Customer Service Meg Fringer, Office Manager, Legals, Classifieds... Ext. 1200 mfringer@cgsentinel.com Production Ron Annis, Production Supervisor... 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