Do you believe me?
The Russians are (still) coming
Do you believe what you read here? Do you think I am a reliable source of information? Ever wonder if I make things up?
Do you reckon I would knowingly lie in this space?
Is it possible I could have a hidden agenda? Could it be I am a pawn, manipulated by bigger interests beyond journalism? So ...
It’s true that I make mistakes. And of course I am biased.
What’s more, there have been occasions during my career, I suppose, when my articles have lacked transparency or balance, due to space and time constraints or my own negligence.
But I strive to present all sides of the story, and get as close to the truth as possible.
The overwhelming majority of my colleagues do the same; all journalists are trained to do just that.
But in this digital world, it’s not always the case. The line between opinion and news is blurring. The number of “news” organizations is exploding, and many have an agenda beyond presenting the facts and fair comment: podcasters, YouTube stars, talkradio hosts on the left and the right, hucksters, pushers and pedlars of every conceivable product, political or otherwise.
They involve mysterious and often malevolent characters like this week’s gun debaters following the horrific Parkland massacre in Florida. One prominent example: The person who started a viral conspiracy theory that survivors of the tragedy calling for gun control were “actors” and “not students.”
Indeed, the gun-control debate exploded on the internet following the tragedy, and not all of it was genuine. Both sides obviously and legitimately chimed in, but so did automated Twitter accounts —“bots” — that authorities suspect are linked to Russia.
“Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confidence in democracy,” said Rod J. Rosenstein, the U.S. deputy attorney general.
He was speaking about an indictment last week detailing Russian involvement in the last presidential election, but the same gang was out in full force after the shooting rampage.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, Russians stole identities of American citizens, posed as political activists, and fomented conflict across America in 2016 — and they are still at it.
This is the new reality, so how do we navigate such a quagmire. How do we know the truth? Who do we believe?
My advice (yet again) is to trust the sources so often attacked these days: The much-maligned mainstream or “legacy” media. It’s not perfect, it has its bad apples too, and there are lots of excellent startups around.
But newspapers have reputations built up over decades, even centuries, of which we are proud. We try to be transparent. You can research our history, our journalists, our ethics, our stances on various matters.
We have taken steps to better identify opinion columns (like the one you are reading) from news articles.
We answer not only to subscribers, but also to watchdog organizations.
We correct our mistakes and check our sources.
And we have proven, I think, that we care.