By Sherry Robinson
All She Wrote

 Two words, “according to,” may be the most important words in any news story you read.

 Journalists are trained to seek out the best, most knowledgeable sources. As a business writer I had certain go-to people I could call who knew their stuff, had their fingers on good data, and could give me an accurate, understandable response. They had earned my trust because of their background, experience and personal honesty. I earned their trust by reporting accurately what they said.

 Accuracy is big. I remember a workshop for reporters in which the speaker practically shouted at us, “Get it right!” I still have her voice in my head. For decades I started interviews with, “Spell your name for me,” even if I was interviewing Jane Smith. Misspell your subject’s name and your credibility nosedives.

 Accuracy’s sister is objectivity. Reporters have to set aside their feelings and opinions and just report the news. I experienced this as almost a physical thing – stepping outside myself to ask questions, hear answers and try to understand all sides of a problem so I could report on it fairly. It’s not easy. You’ve probably seen reporting that wasn’t as objective as it should have been. But in my experience, reporters, with a few exceptions, tried hard to report fairly and accurately. In fact, objectivity is so ingrained in many journalists that it’s downright uncomfortable for them to write an opinion. It’s why I have trouble recruiting writers for this small opinion column service.

 Opinions. That’s what you’re reading right now. Opinion columns run in clearly marked newspaper opinion pages and are not mixed in with news. It sets us apart from other media and the internet.

 During the nation’s colonial days, small, crude newspapers informed citizens about the Tea Tax Act and the American Revolution as it was unfolding. Reporting and journalistic ethics evolved as they covered government, wars, economic downturns and politicians. Founding fathers recognized newspapers’ power to shine a light in dark places and protected them with the First Amendment. The Virginia Declaration of Rights called freedom of the press “one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty.”

That said, I’m not blind to the abuses and incompetence that drag down my industry, and now it’s also struggling to swim in the fast current of the internet.

Online you can a find a mind boggling amount of useful information as well as a mind numbing amount of misinformation (information with unintended errors) and disinformation (information intended to deceive). That fire hose of facts, entertainment, beliefs, complaints, speculation and lies should make us all information consumers. Very little of it is qualified by an “according to.” We don’t know where much of it comes from, and so we have to choose carefully what to believe.

 Years ago I participated in a conference whose organizers wanted to educate readers about the media. Many of the speakers were foreign journalists who complained their governments were deliberately sowing lies to confuse citizens and undermine the work of the media. An uninformed citizenry is an easily led citizenry. That couldn’t happen here, we thought.

And yet, long before this election, we’ve been swamped with disinformation originating internally and from Russia, China and Iran whose goal is to keep us fighting amongst ourselves and keep us in disarray. The response has been to meet the gusher of disinformation with facts, but it’s an unfair fight. Disinformation requires no work, just an outlet. Debunk one piece of disinformation, and 20 more spring up.

 In this election, one of the losers was conventional reporting. We can’t just blame attacks and slurs like “lamestream media” that undermined our credibility. The present wave of analysis includes disinformation, but it should also include journalism.

 I still believe Americans need facts and objective reporting. I salute the journalists still fighting the good fight. But we too must do some navel gazing and a lot more explaining.

Sherry Robinson is a longtime New Mexico reporter and editor. She has worked in Grants, Gallup, the Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico Business Weekly and Albuquerque Tribune. She is the author of four books. Her columns won first place in 2024 from New Mexico Press Women.