Media experts tout facts amid disinformation

Representatives of the bedrock of American democracy – libraries and newspapers – discussed “News & Media Literacy: Informed or Influenced?” at a forum organized by the League of Women Voters of Skagit County Monday evening, April 29 at the PUD building in Mount Vernon.

Skagit Valley College librarians Elena Bianco and Libby Sullivan spoke first, sharing slides and offering the same questions they present their students in class.

“How do you know where information is coming from?” Bianco asked. “Anyone can have a website.”

There are few regulations since the fairness doctrine requiring broadcast stations’ coverage of controversial issues be balanced and fair was abolished in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan’s Federal Communications Commission, she said.

Sullivan discussed the many sources providing information and the responsibility traditional news media companies take to develop a story. She asked, rhetorically, “How many eyes are on it to vet it before it is seen (by the public)?”

Andrew Paxton, Skagit Valley Herald executive editor, emphasized that journalists “talk to all people. We provide all the information and all the perspectives and let the audience decide.”

Reporters do not accept what they see at face value or decide if it is good or bad, but gather facts from all possible sources and print the story so “audiences can make sound news judgments,” he said.

Several in the audience of over 50 people gave testimonials of the importance of newspapers in their daily lives.

The Skagit League chapter is offering a series on voter education this year. The next will be a debate, “The Two Party Political System,” by the Mount Vernon High School debate team May 23.