Headline ≠ endorsement

Stories are published for different reasons; you don’t have to agree with them all

Newspapers are tasked with facilitating discussion – even if it’s uncomfortable sometimes.

Saturday’s front page created a visceral reaction for some of our readers. The profile on Judy Martens’s transformation from masked and double-vaccinated to the opposite spectrum as ‘Rosie Convoy’ was a naked look at a person drawn into the fold of ‘freedom’ groups. Explaining she was going through a “dark time” in her life, Martens drove across the country to join the infamous rallies in Ottawa. Four months later, she remains as a vocal part of a group that’s refusing to leave a historic church in the capital.

Martens confessed she didn’t actually have enough gas money to get home.

Tension still boils below the surface of society’s fragile return to pre-COVID-19 normality.

It’s important to be clear that news stories are not endorsements. Stories are published in The Daily Courier for many reasons.

In this case, the story falls into the human interest category – one that’s displayed more prominently in our weekend papers, which are on newsstands over a few days. Not only is Martens’s story an interesting read, it gives a clue as to who Freedom Convoy members are and why they are active in the cause. Martens’s story was given extra consideration in The Daily Courier because she’s local.

Understandably, the Freedom Convoy stirs up strong emotions. We aren’t excluded. Members of the media are among those poorly treated by ‘freedom’ protestors. We’ve been threatened, cursed out, and casually dismissed as liars.

Still, we can’t ignore them because they aren’t going away. They continue to rally on the weekend in our local communities and draw more people to their cause. It’s important to understand why people are attracted.

Newspapers strive to inform, provide context and background, as well as give readers information to help interpret current events.

That doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything that’s printed.

We count on our readers to come to their own educated conclusions.

To add to the bigger picture, here are some of the other COVID-related headlines we published last week:

• ‘How bivalent vaccines work, what protection they offer’

• ‘Booster targeting Omicron available soon in B.C.’

• ‘Some parents, school groups rue lack of COVID-19 protocols this fall’

We strive for fair and balanced coverage, even if at times, we make you wince.