LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
A seeming ‘blurred’ line between news and opinion
As a subscriber to The Norwalk Hour, I am compelled to write this letter to bring to your attention a subtle, but obvious bias that is creeping into your publication. This bias is what would lead some to cry out “fake news” and it takes the form of opinions being expressed by a journalist at a time when what is being presented is “news.”
I believe that this blurred line of reporting versus opinion is the most pressing issue facing news media across the country.
I am referring to a story from the Sunday, Oct. 14 edition of The Norwalk Hour, entitled “State Republicans unite; keep distance from Trump” by Mark Pazniokis and Clarice Silber from the CT Mirror. In the second paragraph of the story, the reporter opines about the campaign of Bob Stefanowski as “blinkered,” which is clearly not a fact, it is an opinion. This single word changes the tone of the entire article from being a presentation of the facts recorded at the event, to being the author’s opinion of a candidate and his platform. With that one word, unbiased readers are left to wonder where else in the story opinion is expressed as fact.
Unless the intent was to subtly express opinion in a news article by Hearst Media, I would encourage its publisher, editors and reporters to remember that when it comes to journalistic integrity — one word matters. Jim McGuire
Norwalk