Sins of Omission

Sins of Omission

Paying off the local media: What's the going rate?

Mark Haranas Assistant Managing Editor To make a long conversation short, some people think newspapers are corrupt and biased. It’s not a common call The Gardner News receives, but we sometimes get it when a hot topic or issue comes up, like recently in Winchendon — the phone definitely rang a few times. “You’re only writing what he (or she) wants you to write!” or “You’re in their back pocket!” So many times our reporters and editors over the years have had to listen to insulting rants and obnoxiously rude comments from people about how our reporting is biased, or how we’re lying or getting paid under the table. I can humbly say that this newspaper has never taken (or even been offered) any bribes of any sort. Neither have we swayed any article in favor of someone or some issue because a local or government official, police officer, or even local resident secretly asked us too. I don’t even know what someone would offer us. Money? Fame? A hot lunch? From my point of view, it’s completely ludicrous to believe that reporters or editors sway their writing to please someone. It’s just not how this business, or any professional news outlet works. I don’t know where these accusations really start either. When did it get into people’s heads that journalists are corrupt? Especially at a community paper, such as The Gardner News? We’ve been a daily newspaper here since 1897 — if anything was wrong, it probably would have come up by now. Can anyone name the last time they read about someone suing a newspaper and winning? Or can anyone even recall the last time a newspaper was caught having corrupt reporting? The answer is “no.” (Go ahead and Google it.) And a “no” is a HUGE answer when a newspaper publishes hundreds and thousands of stories each year. This is because reporters don’t get into this profession to try to sway the public or get free handouts. It’s to learn, cover and report on things without having any opinions in what they’re writing a story about. The Gardner News prints thousands of local stories each year. Thousands of local stories dealing with local people, schools, businesses, lawmakers, children, police, etc. — and we’ve never been in trouble for lying. The answer to why we haven’t been in trouble is extremely simple, there’s just no reason, cause or point to lie. We have no personal stake in an issue. We are here to report. On rare occasions we do get something wrong in the story, but it’s typically (extremely) minor, like a title mistake for a person or an incorrect date or misspelling. When this happens, we write a correction in our paper stating to the world that we made an error. We don’t get sued or retract entire articles because, basically, we’re not lying about subjects and issues. There’s just no reason to and the repercussions would be gigantic. What’s always missing in these calls saying that we’re “lying/biased/corrupt” is one key fact — evidence. In a typical complaint, the person usually says something on how the story should have been written or how we missed something somewhere. It’s never specific, for example, “This figure you have is completely wrong” or “He didn’t say that.” The complaints we receive against a story are always broad on the subject or issue. The complainer typically tells us that we should look into this or that, or we should have focused more on a certain matter in the issue. Now we don’t mind at all taking the feedback. I don’t expect, or want, people to stop calling us with concerns or even questions. We expect to get scrutinized and critiqued. I don’t mind talking to people who complain either, some are beneficial and can even lead us to some great information. In conclusion, it’s something I’ve had to tell people over and over again who think that we’re a secretly corrupt organization that has been swaying votes and thoughts for the last 120 years … We have no dog in this fight.