Bringing you the news, warts and all.
For the purposes of this column, I’m adding a second hat to my head — and no, it’s not a red one.
I’m writing both as a columnist and as The Telegram’s managing editor. I usually compartmentalize my personal views and my professional responsibilities, but every now and again the two roles overlap.
Last Saturday, our frontpage photo showed a guy holding one of those “Make America Great Again” hats that have become synonymous with United States President Donald Trump.
Well, that red hat raised a red flag for a few people on social media — though we’ve heard no complaints from other quarters — so I thought I’d provide some context.
Many factors are involved in deciding which photo to use on the front page, including the quality of the shots we have available. Sometimes we choose a photo that goes with a front-page story. Other times we pick a stand-alone shot, and sometimes it’s a photo that refers to — and is connected to — a story inside, as was the case last Saturday.
It’s important to recognize the difference between news and commentary, and the photo in question accompanied a news story.
Of course, anything related to Trump is like a lightning rod, and the photo made some see red. A couple of people even said it didn’t matter if the story was balanced — we should never have used the photo.
The article was an exploration of how some people locally are fascinated with American politics — even some who aren’t the least interested in Canadian politics — perhaps because Trump is like a train wreck it’s hard to look away from.
It could also be because the U.S. wields such power on the world stage that the decisions it makes can literally change the course of history. Or, for the simple reason that Trump is the kind of bombastic showman some people find entertaining in a guiltinducing kind of way.
And there are those who agree with his tactics and policies.
Scott Matthews, an associate professor of political science at Memorial University who specializes in American politics, said he understands why people are fascinated by Trump.
“Many Canadians are fearful of the consequences of having someone like Trump in the White House, and it’s not an unreasonable position to have,” he told reporter Rosie Mullaley.
Kenny Hanlon of St. John’s, who was in our front-page photo, calls Trump “a crazy lunatic,” but still can’t help but pay attention to him.
“I think it’s the fact that he’s such a liar and gets away with so much,” he said.
Trump exists, like it or not. So, we thought it was interesting to talk to people locally about why they are intently following American politics. Certainly no one is forced to follow Trump’s cringeworthy antics or listen to his divisive rants.
Trump represents many things I find reprehensible — ignorance, racism, misogyny, egomania, jingoism.
So have many other dangerous people in positions of great power in our history, and we ignore them at our peril. Journalism isn’t about making everyone feel comfortable.
Writing about the news media in the U.K. Guardian last fall, readers’ editor Paul Chadwick suggested that among its many purposes, journalism and its processes should “foster tolerance in the sense that they make it possible to observe the diversity, the ‘otherness,’ around us, without requiring us to join in, or even approve.”
As well, he says, it should “(force) into view public interest issues which we do not want to see, but which will fester to our detriment unless we face them.”
Writing about local interest in Trump, and publishing a photo of someone holding a MAGA hat, is neither endorsing Trump nor what he stands for. It is an acknowledgment that his impact goes far beyond U.S. borders.
And we should be vigilant. In fact, not to explore topics we feel are abhorrent, and to only report on what is acceptable to all, would be to give in to the Trumps of the world, who would only ever have one voice heard — their own — amplified through a media outlet of their own persuasion.