Regardless of size, news organizations do the same thing

Greetings and salutations.

John McCallum here — your friendly, neighborhood enemy of the American people.

I know there are some out there who would agree with the president’s reference to those of us in the news media. There are many who would say he wasn’t referring to everybody in the media, just specific news organizations.

So for the record, here is a copy of his Feb. 17, 2017 Tweet:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump — “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!”

Trump does indeed single out specific news organizations for special rebuke in this case. Of course, absent in this attack is any mention of news outlets who write and say nice things about him, such as Fox News.

But the reality is you can’t separate us here at the Cheney Free Press from those at larger news organizations. It doesn’t matter who it is, the New York Times, ABC, CNN, Fox, the Spokesman-Review, Seattle Times, Inlander, Davenport Times, Ritzville-Adams County Journal, Yakima Herald Republic or the Cheney Free Press — we all do the same thing.

We seek to inform our readers/viewers about what’s happening in their world. It may be local, regional, national or some of all, but it’s still the same, albeit done in different formats and with varying frequency.

I’ve talked to people who are quick to criticize, even condemn, the media for its coverage, but then turn around and qualify it with a “Well, not you personally” when they find out what I do for a living. When this happens, I usually smile, but inwardly I ask myself “How do you know? How do you know that the news item in question wouldn’t have been reported the same way by me as it was done by the organization you are criticizing?”

I know colleagues who believe they can distance themselves from what larger media outlets report. But the truth is, you can’t make that distinction.

All of us in the news media, at least those I know personally and who I have heard testify to, believe that when we report on subjects and events in our communities we are doing so as a service to the public. We’re trying to inform people, to give them an outside perspective on what’s going on by providing information, with perhaps some insight gained from experience and trained observation.

That is what news reporting is — and that’s what we all do.

It’s proper to criticize news organizations, and we’re used to it, even if sometimes it’s not warranted. I can think of several instances when I’ve been cornered by a private citizen or public or elected official and told they didn’t like a story I wrote. Not that it was inaccurate, but that they didn’t feel that subject should have been in print for others to read, especially if they felt it made them look bad — whether they did anything bad or not.

We understand this criticism and accept it, even if we don’t like it. It’s not that we get used to it, we never should, but we accept it and move on. If there is occasion to learn something that makes us better at what we do, we hopefully take advantage of it.

But to label something fake simply because it’s critical of you, or brings to light shortcomings and errors in judgement and/or practice is immature and self-centered. To brand a specific group of people “enemies” of the larger society to which they belong is dangerous and threatening, not only to civility but potentially physically.

That’s the language of dictators and tyrannts. It’s the language of those who won’t accept responsiblity, and seek to find scapegoats to place blame.

Criticism is part of a democratic and free society. But so is the ability to obtain information you might not otherwise be able to get on your own.

The news media provides both. Learn to separate the two, and benefit by them.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].