Kathryn Finegan Clark: By the Way -- The local press

“Local journalism is a vital civic institution. Perhaps above all, it provides a check on power and a means of exposing corruption and incompetence, whether among government agencies or corporations.

“In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.

– Judge Hugo Black, writing for the 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court majority that decided in favor of the press

After more than 50 years of writing for a free and unfettered local press, I feel truly fortunate to continue my task of informing the public. (Actually, more than 50 years if you consider I wrote for a high school column in one of the now extinct Philadelphia dailies – and, as a high school senior, I chalked up a Page One byline in my hometown’s newspaper.)

My role as observer has set me at the sidelines of history. Although my audience is small as compared with those whose beats cover the country or the world or even space it is here in these little pools of people that history and its accompanying chicanery and good deeds begin.

It is here in Bucks County I have reported on the deeds and misdeeds of local school boards, township government and state and local police. I always did my best to ferret out the truth – and that task was often very difficult, if not impossible, considering the roadblocks officials can erect – and they do erect them. I do have to say, however, in my experience, the good deeds usually far outweighed the misdeeds, even though the officials who behaved badly are more easily recalled for their exceptional audacity.

As a reporter searches for truth there’s more cat-and-mouse stuff going on than most people realize. And the power is generally owned by the cat … until milk is spilled and the truth emerges. Truth does emerge. Sometimes it reveals a damning cover-up. More often it uncovers incompetence or facts that could be embarrassing for officials.

(Think Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s hasty return from Mexico during a weather crisis in his own backyard. His family junket, an escape from a sudden freeze that diminished power and water supplies for his constituents, was an event soundly denounced by both political parties. Some news person correctly brought that to the public’s attention.)

Few people realize the work involved in reporting the news. A two-vehicle accident, for example, requires, first of all, the knowledge that it has occurred, then a call to the police, to the fire company, ambulance squad and hospital, if involved, to confirm the information. Depending on the circumstances and severity of the event, a reporter and photographer may rush to the scene, fearing what they might see and, sometimes, carrying the memory of what they did see for the rest of their lives.

Now is the time to remind ourselves and others that it is the free press and not fake news that matters. There is indeed fake news, more so than ever, out there on social media platforms, but you won’t find it in established newspapers or on long-respected television news programs.

Reporters for the mainstream media go to great lengths to confirm facts – and do not present them until they are actually verified, often by several sources.

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