Nothing but the truth, please
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Please allow me to set the record straight. Following a letter to the editor in last week’s newspaper penned by one, “Bob Rew,” our office received a number of phone calls regarding the legitimacy of the name.
First of all, let me say that we do indeed live in a small community. I was amazed so many people knew enough about the population of Polson to know that no one by the name of “Bob Rew” lives there. I was asked several times and would like to reiterate now that we do not (knowingly) publish letters to the editor that are written under pen names.
I spoke to the author of the letter, who confirmed that he did in fact use a pen name, to let him know our policy and that we wouldn’t be publishing any further letters without his legal name.
The role of a newspaper is to present its community with the facts. Though an opinion section is comprised of, well, opinions, it is still the duty of a newspaper to present those opinions in a factual way – by providing accurately the names of submitting authors. It is not a responsibility we take lightly. We regret having allowed an anonymous author to get through.
Could we be fooled again? Yes. But we’re certainly going to work hard to ensure we aren’t.
It’s a conundrum for journalists, whether in the opinion pages or otherwise, when people misrepresent who they are. I’ve given serious thought about how to ensure a person is indeed who they say they are … We can call, we can verify addresses, and we can check property/voting records. Though we will certainly be diligent in our efforts, there are potential pitfalls in each scenario. A person can lie over the phone, addresses may be temporary or mismarked and a person may not vote or own property, though they live in our county.
In truth, we do rely on people to present themselves honestly. And I’d bet 99 percent of you do.
There’s very little anonymity allowed in journalism and for good reason. A person should be held accountable for what they say, or write. Can you imagine the world we would live in if journalists routinely quoted anonymous sources? The credibility of newspapers would suffer. Without verifiable information and credible sources newspapers would rapidly become nothing more than gossip pieces.
There are certainly appropriate uses of anonymous sources – the most notorious example that comes to mind is “Deep Throat,” the name given the informant who brought the 1970s Watergate political scandal to the Washington Post newspaper.
The example is extreme, but point made. There is a time and a place for these exceptions, but publishers and editors don’t make those decisions lightly. The potential benefits of exposing a truth to the public must outweigh the concerns of publishing information from anonymous sources.
A letter to the editor is not an acceptable venue for anonymous sources. What’s more, I believe that signing your name to your opinion is a matter of personal pride and integrity. If you can’t stand behind it, don’t say it.
In my opinion, a person’s tribal affiliation doesn’t have bearing on their qualifications for the office of sheriff or any other job for that matter. And for the record, Summer Goddard is my real name.
