Page News Suspect?

The Page News and Courier

Small town newspaper, comes out once a week. Everybody reads it.The Fourth Estate. That's what we learn in school that the newspapers are. Journalists play a big part in our government. They keep our government honest. They report the FACTS. Yet, here we are, a few months from an election for Sheriff, and the newspaper puts a big front page headline out that says "Sheriff's Office under federal investigation?" Notice the question mark at the end of the headline. When you read the article, it says, the Department of Justice was in Page County collecting information, but no one knows why or what it was about. They also collected information on other things in the county. But no one knows whether the Sheriff's Office is under investigation, or whether some other office is under investigation.

So why would the Page News use a headline that implies it is the Sheriff's Office? News people know that many people just read headlines. Many people will remember only the words in the
headline, and believe that the article said the Sheriff's office WAS under investigation. That's not fair and balanced news reporting, Jamie Turner and Randy Arrington.

Page County Watch has seen this business of implying and impugning in other articles in the Page News. For one thing, Jamie wrote that the Flood Plain Ordinance came about because there was a letter from the state saying the county's existing ordinance was not in compliance. That wasn't true, but Jamie didn't check her facts. When PCW pointed out to her that she had written something untrue, she shrugged it off, as if writing untrue things was unimportant to a journalist. Then, in an article about the Comprehensive Plan, Jamie cherry-picked the audience comments, reporting the glowing and happy statements, without reporting the disgruntlements.

We don't need a small town newspaper with a bias. Local folks need just the facts. Our newspaper isn't supposed to be some type of Happy Hannah, guiding people's thoughts into one track, and putting light on only what the newspaper thinks is right.

If you have comments about this Blog, push the Comments button. Your opinion will show up immediately, without censorship. Page County Watch will delete anything that uses swear words or refers to taking illegal actions. Other than that, we publish whatever you say. You may post anonymously, or sign your name.