We are your defense

It's been over a year since President Donald Trump first Tweeted, alarmingly, that the media is “the enemy of the people,” and his administration seems to be ratcheting up the use of the phrase of late.

It’s rhetoric that should offend you if you are a fan of the Constitution, whether you are a Trump fan or not.

When Trump disparaged the media and the crowd at a Panama City Beach rally, the crowd responded by hurling insults at local reporters they likely had never met. For some, the default position when they disagree with a story is to denounce it as "Fake News," whether it's about national politics or a local ordinance.

We try to respond and explain. We stick to the facts. We do our best to be balanced. We can't address the state of the national media but we can tell our readers for a fact that our locally produced content is not born of any political leaning, we're reporting the news because that's our job — and for most of us our passion — and we will do it to the best of our ability no matter what.

So hearing the President of the United States calling the free press the enemy of the people is disconcerting. The First Amendment is first in line for a reason.

We are not the enemy of the people. More importantly, we are not your enemy.

Lost in this is that we're also your neighbors, we shop with you, our kids go to school with yours, our spouses and family members work alongside yours and we are just as invested in the well being of this community as any resident.

The News Herald is a community paper. Our main focus is on what is happening right here.

We believe good, fair, in-depth storytelling, moving the community forward, understanding each other, finding commonalities, moving past rumors and celebrating accomplishments while solving problems.

Disagreements between the press and political elite aren't new. President John Adams attempted to criminalize the press speaking out against him in 1798, and more recently President Barack Obama used the Espionage Act to prosecute more whistleblowers and journalists than all other presidents combined.

But a rigorous free press is part of the big difference between our country and places like North Korea and Cuba, where the public is silenced.

Information and facts are powerful tools. Presenting the information we gather is not the same as being biased or the "enemy." It's part of why we have a "Viewpoints" page for opinion, where you can tell us what you think or take us to task.

We believe most of our readers believe that as well; we get far more calls from people seeking our assistance in their battles against government, law enforcement, and the rich and powerful than we do from people decrying our coverage of the Bay County Commission as "fake news."

You’re smart enough that you don’t need anyone — not a politician and not us — telling you what to think. But we appreciate the chance to offer you this food for thought.

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