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EDITORIAL: Beware the cesspool

On social media, as in war, truth is the fi rst casualty T he debate over how social media is handling—and should handle—false political advertising and misleading statements by elected officeholders, covers a lot of ground.
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On social media, as in war, truth is the rst casualty

The debate over how social media is handling—and should handle—false political advertising and misleading statements by elected officeholders, covers a lot of ground. As the debate plays out, it’s worth asking: is social media, which is primarily designed to give anyone and everyone their 15 minutes of fame, the place to get vetted information on our government and its leaders?

The internet is vast, wild and full of false information. The CIA-confirmed narrative of Russian trolls’ coordinated intervention in the 2016 US election, and European elections, is just one cautionary tale of social media as the new Trojan horse. But now we don’t just invite disinformation into our cities— we bring it into our homes.

Facebook may or may not cave to mounting pressure to adopt a Twitter-like ban on political advertising. But Facebook is just one—albeit one giant—platform. The real problem lies in our willingness to trust unvetted information from social media, especially when it comes to political news, and of late COVID-19. As long as that’s true, we are susceptible to the next platform flavor of the week—and not all will be run by companies with leaders easily hauled before investigative committees. Beijing-based TikTok, anybody?

Expecting Facebook or Twitter to vet information is not the answer. That’s an impossible task, especially given the speed users expect answers.

But it’s not all “1984” apocalyptic disinformation-age mayhem. We’re here to remind you a place does exist where facts are still valued and truth still matters: the humble local newspaper. Traditional media has its share of critics and is certainly not without fault. Critics cry bias, others dismiss paper as something from the dinosaur age. Since the advent of the internet, it’s had to compete for what was earlier a captive audience.

But for those who have forgotten what newspapers do—both in print and on the internet—here’s a reminder: they report the news, as accurately and as quickly as they can.

Every day, local reporters and photographers head out into the community to spend time in schools, courtrooms, businesses, government buildings and homes—all with the goal of seeing, understanding and reporting the realities of life in their towns. Every day, editors work to ensure stories are clear and accurate. Every day, designers and press staff work to put those stories into an easy-to-read format.

Are there errors and flaws? Of course. That’s true of any human endeavor, especially one that releases a new product 50 weeks a year. But we’re not nameless, faceless trolls sitting behind a computer somewhere in Russia or China. We live in your community. Reporters put their names on stories, photographers on their pictures. We pick up the phone when readers call. On our editorial pages we regularly publish letters and columns critical of our editorial stances and news coverage.

In other words, unlike shadow writers swimming in social media cesspools with rumours, half-truths and blatant lies, we are accountable to you, the reader.

You might be frustrated with traditional media. You might feel a story or an editorial is unfair, roll your eyes when you catch a typo, or wonder why you should pay for a voluntary membership when so-called “news” is free online.

But you get what you’re willing to pay for, and communities without local newspapers are worse off for it. We’re committed to fighting for your right to know and to preserving your voice.

So use that voice. Write letters to the editor, or pick up the phone and call. Take out a Voice membership. If you can, spread the joy and subscribe to a quality daily paper as well. Just don’t rely on Facebook or Twitter to tell you what’s true.

Because they’ve made it clear that’s not their job. It’s ours.