There’s a difference between an opinion and a fact.
This is important to remember as we draw closer to the Oct. 20 municipal election.
In the last couple of years many popular print and digital news sources — especially in the United States — have pushed the boundaries of traditional political reporting to the point where it is sometimes difficult to tell where the story ends and the commentary begins.
That’s mostly the result of the bizarre political climate south of the border, as well as the unavoidable evolution of 24-7 news coverage.
This popular quote about journalism sums the position up fairly well: “If someone says it’s raining, and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the window and find out which is true.”
There’s a lot of veracity in that opinion to be sure, but for the purposes of serving the Vancouver Island community the media should take a slightly modified approach.
It’s important to quote all relevant voices on an issue (even if someone says it’s raining and it really doesn’t seem to be) and then supply context and documentation.
If Jack says it’s raining and Jill says it isn’t raining they both get quoted. Then we call Environment Canada and get them to confirm what the weather is actually doing. Everyone gets some ink, and the public gets a chance to inspect the credibility both Jill and Jack.
Later on, in a clearly labeled piece such as this, the media might editorialize on rain. But that is entirely separate and cannot be confused with news.
This is also something to think about when you are following social media, if you happen to be one of the members of the local discussion groups. Is what you are reading and responding to an opinion? Is it a fact?
The VIFree Daily will not endorse any candidate for election this fall, but we’ll cover the news and opine on issues as we normally do.
We are in for an interesting campaign this fall.
Of course, that’s just an opinion.