’Fighting for the truth’ (Oct. 7 Gazette) – what a novel concept in this day when lies, false innuendos and fake news rule the day.
We have been living these growing ‘untruths’ for some time but they really exploded with the nomination and election of the current President of the United States who has vocalized or ‘texted’ one lie after another for four-plus years now. Some of the media support these kind of lies while others try to discredit them with fact checks, but in the end, most of the public conclude ‘it is what it is’ and move on.
Today, many lobbyists and people with hurtful or vindictive agendas recognize the successes of these ‘untruths’ and are using them to discredit honest people and legitimate proposals at the expense of an uninformed public. When our media takes sides or only reports one side of an issue, we the public do not know what is truthful and what is not. We cannot make an informed decision. Unbiased, investigative reporting is the only form of ‘news’ we should accept as being truthful, whether it is from TV, radio or print media.
From my perspective, I would like to applaud the reporters and editor at the Gazette for their effort in trying to present both sides of the story without taking sides. The coverage on the pros and cons of a municipal utility corp was very informative and provided St. Albert citizens with the knowledge to say ‘no’ to city council. The recent article, “CERB comments taken out of context” (Oct. 7 Gazette), provided the community with an opportunity to get both sides of the story and draw their own conclusions to the truth (this isn’t the first time and probably not last that a NDP spokesperson has misled the public).
I also appreciate that the Gazette allows the public to comment without interference and invites guest writers to comment on local issues. Brian McLeod seems to do his homework and usually offers some very good insight (St. Albert’s city council probably doesn’t agree)! These are just a few examples which support the Gazette’s effort in ‘Fighting for the truth’. Keep up the good work!
Ken McMorris, St. Albert
