To the editor:
Here we go again (“Know what people want? That’s a lie,” April 6, A6)!
People sometimes ask, “How do you know when a politician is lying?”
The answer used to be, “When they move their lips” (just joking).
The real question is, “How do you know when a journalist is lying?”
The quick answer to that is, “When they open by saying, ‘People say’ or ‘People sometimes ask.'”
We, the reading public, do not have the advantage of looking into the eyes or hearing the writer stammer or show nervous traits.
What gives the writer the knowledge to know what the voter wants or doesn’t want?
Why should the director of the Pulliam School of Journalism refer to “manure spreader” in such divisive terms? Simply put, he may have a personal relationship with manure!
Journalism bears some responsibility in our country’s plight by diminishing trust and increasing division.
This journalistic approach has continued to increasingly divide our nation for several decades.
Journalism has special privileges bestowed on it by our Constitution. With the privileges come an expectation of responsibility.
I hope that they will, in the future, consider the full impact of their words.
An American citizen and a resident of Hancock County,
John Shaw
Greenfield
