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Letters to the editor: April 23, 2021

Balance and truth

I am constantly embarrassed at the editorial pages of my local newspaper. The editors’ distinct bias against and barely hidden hatred of more than half of Yamhill County’s voting citizens — those of us who voted for President Trump — drip off the pages every Friday with spittle and glee.

It’s a shame, too, because the writing in the rest of the paper is excellent — and at least 98 percent fair, in my opinion.

Members of the N-R’s editorial board, including those who choose the idiotic political cartoons, are constantly in error about conservatives and constitutionalists such as myself. Ask me and I’ll prove it to you.

But you don’t have to take my word for it.

Sharyl Attkisson, winner of multiple Emmys for newscasting and reporting, recently spoke at Hillsdale College. Watch her talk on YouTube — “Slanted Journalism and the 2020 Election Sharyl Attkisson” — and be amazed at the depth of her knowledge. She describes case after case of what has happened to completely destroy the credibility of really any mainstream national media.

I’ve been noticing it since the 1980s, but it has gone completely off the rails in the past four years. And sadly, our local editors have fallen right into step.

Among many other things, Sharyl says propagandists and political and corporate interests have infiltrated our newsrooms at six-figure salaries. And they are hiring the editorial writers and analysts.

There are very few repercussions for warping the facts now. Instead, it is heralded and rewarded.

News-Register, please try to bring in balance and truth. I’d be glad to help.

Tod Butterfield

McMinnville

Comments

montag

Mr. Butterfield, you write that Sharyl Attkisson says propagandists and political and corporate interests have infiltrated newsrooms at six-figure salaries. She is absolutely correct. You'll find those well-paid propagandists at FOX News, Newsmax, and One America News Network (OANN) - and you're welcome to them.

msantone

Tod. Man you have a way with the emotionally charged accusatory language. You acknowledge respect for the news reporting function of the paper. You have a very odd view of 'opinion'. You seem to believe opinion of the paper should not be an opinion which differs from your opinion.

That you use extreme emotionally charged words and labels in expressing your opinion is very revealing. Luckily we live in America founded on the free exchange of ideas and opinions.

I wonder if someone sent you a letter such as the one you sent to N-R what you would do. Would you publish it as the N-R did?

RobsNewsRegister

Sharyl has compiled a fairly extensive list of media errors during the Trump era - they are pretty damming (see link). I have developed the habit of tuning things out until time has passed and there is confirmation from multiple sources. This era of half-truths and single anonymous source "reporting" so a left-wing outlet can run a hit piece on conservatives or to just get clicks needs to end before our news has the credibility with the populous of Soviet Union's Pravda.

The latest error is backtracking on the ill-founded allegation regarding Russian troop bounties. They used the 'story' to hit Trump and to stop his attempt at pulling troops out of Afghanistan last summer. Now that Biden wants to withdrawal our troops from Afghanistan as well, the IC magically fesses up - “U.S. intelligence only had ‘low to moderate’ confidence in the story. Translated from the jargon of spyworld, that means the intelligence agencies have found the story is, at best, unproven—and possibly untrue.”

https://sharylattkisson.com/2021/04/50-media-mistakes-in-the-trump-era-the-definitive-list/

RobsNewsRegister

The error to which I refer is #153. She lists them in chronological order. These aren't trivial - these are major mistakes by major news organizations (e.g. #153 was the NYT).

Don Dix

Ms Attkisson is wrong about the numbers (at least at the top). The top 5 anchors in news are ----- Sean Hannity, Fox - $40M ... Diane Sawyer, CBS &ABC - $22M ... Robin Roberts, ABC - $18M ... George Stephanopoulos, ABC - $15M ... Anderson Cooper, CNN - $12M.

No matter the outlet, all are outrageously over-compensated for the drivel they spew.

msantone

Tod. If you are for the constitution why do you have a problem with the paper's opinions. You acknowledge the papers is doing its news reporting job in keeping you informed of local news. You use emotional laidened words to characterize the their opinions. Maybe it was just to introduce another complaint about national media and politics have wronged you. Read our Constitution again. It is a beautiful document which extols the free exchange of ideas. Using the emotional language of insult is your right, your way to express your opinion, but it does not lend itself to discussion. It is not in the spirit of the constitution you say you believe in.

tagup

Demands for “balance & truth” and “repercussions for warping the facts” combined with support for the ex- President ?.....
maybe it’s not the editor that is showing bias....

RobsNewsRegister

Tagup and others on the political left - I'm not sure you're grasping how dangerous the current level of bias and sloppiness in the media is and why “repercussions for warping the facts” - at least the expectation of the offending news organization (e.g. NYT/WaPo) to issue a retraction and apology - may be in order.

Saagar Enjeti of The Hill explains it better than I in the Youtube video below regarding media error #153 [Russia bounty gate story used to hit Trump before the election and what pundits at the time were calling for] I referenced earlier. One day these folks are going to get us into a major war - e.g. a stale mate proxy war like Vietnam with world powers on opposing sides. For instance, what if the political target of the hit piece (say a Republican president) responds geopolitically in order to gain favor prior to an election? Trump had a lot of faults but his thick skin to constant media affecting major policy responses wasn't one of them.

The media and us as consumers of the media need to get our act together and expect dotting of the 'I's' and crossing of the 'T's' as in the days before the internet prior to unleashing 'bombshell' stories.

Saagar Enjeti: 'Bombshell' Russian Bounties Story FALLS APART, Revealing Media Lies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6f2-70iy14

tagup

Rob, you seem to be drawing a conclusion from my post, that was not intended.
I was merely pointing out the hypocrisy of the author ‘s demand for “ balance & truth” from the NR while at the same time claiming his support for a president that was neither balanced or truthful....

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