In guiding the work of the Athens County Independent, I rely on the principles outlined in “The Elements of Journalism” by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. The first of these elements is, “Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.”
This seems obvious, but it’s trickier than you think. As a nonprofit organization, we are legally barred from taking sides or advocating for or against candidates and policies. So what do we do when a candidate or advocate presents information that is not true?
We currently face this problem with Issue 1. Some proponents of Issue 1 say it is necessary because, they claim, a ballot initiative approved for the Nov. 7 election would allow abortion for any reason through the ninth month of pregnancy and allow gender-affirming surgery at any age without a parent’s knowledge or consent.
This claim has been made in letters to the editor and by elected officials.
This claim is not true. Nothing in the proposed initiative could be reasonably construed to support that claim. It specifically states that “abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability” — defined as “the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician, the fetus has a significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus with reasonable measures.”
Nowhere does the initiative mention gender-affirming surgery. You can read the proposal yourself via the Ohio Attorney General.
We could avoid accusations of bias by simply printing whatever an official says or a letter states, but that would abdicate our responsibility to truth. Pointing out mis/disinformation is not telling you how we think you should vote. We are simply doing our due diligence.
In the third edition of “The Elements of Journalism,” Kovacs and Rosenstiel devote an entire chapter to the rights and responsibilities of news consumers. You have the right to hold us accountable to our responsibilities as journalists. You also have the responsibility to “approach the news with an open mind and not just a desire that the news reinforce existing opinion.”
Our responsibility to truth means that we can’t just tell you what happened or what was said. (Stenography may be accurate, but it doesn’t necessarily deliver truth.) We must provide the context of what happened or was said, which includes fact-checking. And you, as consumers of the news, have a similar responsibility not to take what you see or read at fact value. You, too, have a responsibility to truth.
