A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
True journalism
I
n the social media era
where information can be
instantaneously shared
around the world by almost
anyone with no more effort
than a few keystrokes and the
click of a button, some may
question the value of traditional
journalism.
Why wait for the newspaper
to report on an incident when
you can simply tune in to the
un¿ ltered gossip online"
The logic makes sense to a
certain extent, and the strategy
may work most of the time.
Reading a Facebook post
from someone whose house
just burned down will often
provide most of the pertinent
information, and something like
that is usually easy to con¿ rm, if
not completely accurate.
But, believe it or not, many
of the ³facts´ À oating around on
the internet are not true. What
then"
Do you believe the comments
that get the most “likes” or the
ones that get repeated the most
or maybe just those that tell
you what you want to hear"
When everyone with a keyboard
can spew information with no
accountability for inaccuracy,
discerning the truth can be
dif¿ cult.
And this is why journalism is
even more important in the age
of Twitter and Facebook.
Contrary to what you may
have read on the web, neither
this newspaper nor any of
its employees are part of a
conspiracy to defraud the public.
Nor will this paper stoop to the
level of publishing unveri¿ ed
rhetoric to push a particular
agenda.
Journalism requires digging
for facts — public documents,
of¿ cial records, ¿ rsthand
accounts — and representing
both sides of an argument or
issue. At the Eagle, we work
diligently to provide the best
veri¿ able information available
to inform our readers.
As an example, we recently
chose not to publish a letter
to the editor that contained
accusations against three
local people without any
corresponding evidence. The
writer blamed these people
for “coercing him to ¿ le a
discrimination suit” against an
elected county of¿ cial and said
he had formally withdrawn his
complaint.
Rather than immediately
publish the juicy gossip, which
may or may not be true, we
did what we would do with
any information like this:
We requested the relevant
documents from the appropriate
agency to provide a factual
foundation before we broadcast
it to the world.
We determined a complaint
had been ¿ led, but the case
was still open, so most of
the documents could not
be released. The agency
representative said, even if the
complaint was withdrawn, it
may take some time before
the case was of¿ cially closed
and the documents would be
available to the public. We
were encouraged to check back
soon, and like any diligent news
agency, we intend to do so.
In the meantime, the letter
was published on a website of
an organization claiming to be a
news outlet. Publishing the letter
was certainly their prerogative,
but accompanying the letter
was an explanation with
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
patently false claims about this
newspaper. And the organization
did not even try to contact the
Eagle before publishing the false
information.
The explanation claims the
Eagle’s publisher contacted
the letter writer, which never
happened. It claims the Eagle
said the letter would not be
printed because the use of the
word “coercing” was a crime,
which is not accurate. Worst of
all, it claims the letter writer was
told the Eagle would publish
the letter after the upcoming
elections, which is ridiculous.
The Eagle’s editor did leave
a phone message for the letter
writer and informed him the
letter could not be printed
because it contained accusations
of possible illegal conduct.
Using the word “coercing”
is not a crime, but accusing
people of the crime of coercion
without allowing them to
explain their actions — or to
deny the allegations — could
be considered libel, which is
printed slander or defamation.
And a news organization can
be found liable for damages
for such claims, even for
publishing a letter written by
someone else.
And the letter writer was not
told it would be published after
the elections. That letter will
never be printed on the Eagle’s
opinion page, and the writer
was told as much.
The letter contained no
opinion. It was a list of
allegations presented as fact.
People are entitled to their own
opinions, such as their favorite
color, and we enjoy providing
a forum for that on our opinion
page.
When it comes to reporting
facts, however, we hold
ourselves to a higher standard
and dig for veri¿ able truth.
And this is much different
than opinion. While people
may argue about what, in
their opinion, is the best color,
the color of the agency’s
date-received stamp on the
complaint ¿ led by the letter
writer is most certainly blue.
That’s a fact.
Finding the truth requires
work. We contact the relevant
parties. We solicit and publish
their comments to provide the
most complete story possible.
Then we publish the results
of that work, of that journalism,
as a news article — not on the
opinion page. And if we get
something wrong, we publish a
correction to clear up the facts.
This is what separates real
journalism from the rest of
the information one might
encounter.
It is thorough. It is vetted. It
is not one-sided. It is accurate,
and if ever it is proven to
be inaccurate, it is quickly
corrected to comply with the
facts.
Be wary of any organization
claiming to be a news outlet
that does not follow this
process, that does not attempt
to contact the people it writes
about, that does not dig for
veri¿ able facts beneath the
rumors and gossip. Be wary,
even if they’re telling you what
you want to hear.
Opinions are one thing. Facts
are another.
In the modern era of
information technology, a
journalist that can tell the
difference is more important
than ever.
µ:HVWDQG¿UPO\EHKLQGWKH(DJOH¶
To our customers:
In recent weeks, the Blue
Mountain Eagle, its staff and its
publisher have come under vi-
cious attack by some members
of the Grant County community.
These criticisms have challenged
the truthfulness of articles we
have published and the integrity
of Eagle employees. The com-
ments — appearing mostly in
social media platforms such as
Facebook — contain false accu-
sations about our actions and mo-
tives, some of which border on
defamation.
We have owned and operat-
ed the Eagle since 1979. In that
time, the newspaper has consis-
tently practiced journalism that is
accurate, fair and thorough.
The Eagle also has demon-
strated community leadership
in times of crisis – most re-
cently during last summer’s
wildfires, mill closures and the
attempt in 2010 by the Ary-
an Nation to relocate in Grant
County.
The Eagle will continue to re-
port on local controversy as well
as the activities, events and peo-
ple that make up the community.
We will continue to offer space in
the newspaper and its website for
opinion, in the form of letters to
the editor and op-ed articles. We
do not publish personal attacks or
unverifiable statements of fact.
We reserve the right to edit letters
for length and for content.
As the principal owners of EO
Media Group, we stand firmly
behind the Eagle, its employees
and its publisher, Marissa Wil-
liams, in this unfortunate time of
divisiveness in Grant County.
Steve Forrester
Astoria
Kathryn Brown
Pendleton
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Meeting attendees not
encouraged to tear up
grazing permits
To the Editor:
The newspaper has a rule that if
one’s name is mentioned in a letter,
then a rebuttal can be made that can
exceed the one-letter-per-month
limitation. Not to give a further
opportunity to rant, the individual
will be simply referred to as “You
know who with a sign,” or just YK-
WWAS.
YKWWAS reasoned the militia
was present at the Grange in Mt.
Vernon when an educational forum
was presented because a bumper
sticker with “Idaho 3%” was on a
truck. Does that mean if an Obama
or Hillary sticker was seen, then
one can believe that escapees from
an insane asylum were driving or
lunatics were at the meeting" Works
both ways.
YKWWAS did not attend the
meeting but alleged ranchers were
encouraged to tear up grazing per-
mits. Delusional thinking because
that did not happen.
YKWWAS cautioned there is a
group, 90 strong, ready to get giddy
and parade with signs at any indi-
cation anyone would entertain a
thought different than theirs.
Prior to prohibition, a woman
named Carrie Nation would storm
into a saloon and attack the bar with
an ax. A ditty came about, “Close
the door, lock and latch it. Here
comes Carrie with a brand new
hatchet.”
Could this be coined" “Having a
meeting, will YKWWAS come peek-
ing" A sign in hand, along with the
merry band. The truth doesn’t matter,
YKKWAS is mad as a hatter.”
Louis Crabtree
John Day
&RQÀLFWVRI
interest endure
To the Editor:
Looking at the voters’ guide for
the forest commission is much like
looking at the who’s who of Forest
Service contract holders or benefac-
tors in Grant County.
Four men running for the Public
Forest Commission, Mark Webb,
King Williams, Dave Hannibal and
Russ Young, each have a ¿ nancial
stake in seeing projects completed on
the Malheur National Forest, at the
expense of decommissioning roads,
if it means seeing the Grant County
stewardship project money paid out.
Just so we don’t lose track.
Russ runs Iron Triangle logging,
sole contract holder of the “steward-
ship” contract. King represents Iron
Triangle logging at meetings, Dave
represents Grayback Forestry, which
takes up the thinning contract work
(through Iron Triangle) and Mark
makes his paycheck by “facilitating”
the “collaborative,” of which they are
all members, to help Russ, King and
Dave get their project work and mon-
ey in the end.
The forest supervisor spelled it out
very clearly about a year ago. If road
closures were not in the projects, no
projects would move forward. Which
means King, Russ and Dave get no
project payments, and Mark’s useful-
ness on the collaborative goes away
too.
I support Tad Houpt, Howard
Gieger, Jim Sproul, Mike Smith and
Sam Palmer for the Public Forest
Commission.
These ¿ ve men can look at the
situation and best represent the
majority of Grant County and our
needs to extract natural resources,
while protecting open motorized
access to our public lands. Instead
of Mark, King, Russ and Dave, who
represent their own personal inter-
est of extracting the roughly $70
million dollars in the stewardship
contract at the expense of all of our
open access to the forest.
I know King and Mark have al-
ready seen votes of no con¿ dence
before in positions. I see no reason
to give them another chance.
John D. George
Bates, Oregon
Grant County
residents are our
own voice
To the Editor:
The message on our Blue Moun-
tain Eagle Facebook page reads:
“oh wise ones! it’s so very special
how you get a kick out of deceiv-
ing your readers. coming soon to
your town. me! i so look forward
to meeting all of you. love, -----”
This, friends and neighbors, was
the ¿ rst shot across the bow by a
pair of recent arrivals from Idaho
who have launched a “media war”
(their words) with a website pre-
tending to be our voice — yes, that
is yours and mine.
Since when does someone ar-
rive from Idaho one day and the
next day declares (and thinks) they
are our voice" Incredible! Ridic-
ulous! Insulting! While leaving it
to you to research them and con-
nect the dots leading to the locals
who have brought this invasion to
our community, I ask the people
of Grant County this: Are we not
intelligent and capable enough to
recognize truth, evaluate evidence,
choose our leaders and craft our
policies for ourselves" These im-
postors of “truth” are beyond ar-
rogant and manipulative, and they
are truly not the voice of Grant
County. We know that; apparently
they don’t.
As the self-styled media report-
er (who sat front and center at the
candidate meet last Saturday) said,
“i so look forward to meeting all
of you.” Should you have the op-
portunity to do so, you may want
to ask her to respect your ability to
be your own voice; we don’t need
the “help” of outsiders. Be fore-
warned, their expressed mission
is this: “my job in Grant County
is to get in their face and take all
their sling. I’m going to ask them
to send all their arrows to me.”
Now whom do you suppose he is
going to be protecting" He was the
embedded reporter with the Idaho
III%ers militia during the refuge
occupation and worked in tandem
with the infamous Pete Santilli.
There is absolutely no doubt, in my
opinion, what their end game plan
is: telling you what is “truth” and
whom to vote for in the coming
elections. This has to be one of the
most shameful election year tactics
to strike this county, ever.
Kay Steele
Ritter
L
etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity is
good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank-you letters.
Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original
and signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. We
must limit all contributors to one letter per person per month. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue Mountain Eagle,
195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
P UBLISHER ............................... M ARISSA W ILLIAMS , MARISSA @ BMEAGLE . COM
E DITOR .................................... S EAN H ART , EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM
A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT ........ K RISTINA K REGER , KRISTINA @ BMEAGLE . COM
E DITORIAL A SSISTANT ................ C HERYL H OEFLER , CHERYL @ BMEAGLE . COM
C OMMUNITY N EWS .................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
S PORTS ................................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
M ARKETING R EP ....................... K IM K ELL , ADS @ BMEAGLE . COM
O FFICE M ANAGER ..................... L INDSAY B ULLOCK , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Grant County .....................................$40
Everywhere else in U.S. .....................$51
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION EPail: wwwMyEagleNewscoP Phone: 1010
Periodicals Postage Paid at John
'a\ and additional Pailing oIÀ ces
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Copyright © 2016 Blue Mountain Eagle
All rights reserved. No part of this
publication covered by the copyright
hereon may be reproduced or
copied in any form or by any means
— graphic, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, taping or
information storage and retrieval
systems — without written
permission of the publisher.
wwwIaceEooNcoPMyEagleNews
@MyEagleNews