It was generous of the Press Herald to print Norman Baker’s letter of July 12, in which he expressed displeasure with Greg Kesich’s work. We all have the right to complain, but Mr. Baker ended with this imperative: “Write the news, don’t make it up.”

Mr. Baker seems to believe that opinion writers should not express their opinions. Would he like to remove the opinion page altogether? We go to the opinion page because we are curious to know what knowledgeable, intelligent, experienced observers of current affairs have to say about the events of the day. We want them to provoke us and broaden our view of the world and perhaps impart a bit of wisdom. I believe contributors to the Press Herald’s opinion page do this well, though sometimes I might decide to adopt views different from theirs.

Those doing original reporting are restrained from expressing their personal opinions. But it is impossible for reporters to be completely neutral. They tell stories and must choose which facts to include or exclude to make a story coherent. They must also provide context so that we will understand the significance of the facts. It is inevitable that bias will creep in. As readers, we have to understand this. No one would read the newspaper if all it did was print a list of facts.

We do expect news media always to strive for accuracy. But I see no evidence that the Press Herald makes things up or deliberately misinforms its readers.

Michael P. Bacon
Westbrook

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