I read your article supporting this bill and it paying part of reporter’s salary. Don’t you see how this is a conflict of interest? This Democratic Party bill puts reporters obligated to them. The affection that the media has for liberal thought is bad enough but this would put it over the top.
Keith Muma
Canton, GA
Editor’s Note: We were a bit taken aback by this message and sent him the following response, which we believe is worthwhile to share with our readers —
Hello Keith,
A happy new year to you too! If you read our AVV article about this in which we referenced the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, you read it for FREE, as you do every other news story written by AVV.
You are surely welcome to your opinion, but this is no conflict of interest; we are fact-based and evidence-driven, just as National Public Radio, The Guardian, and Public Television are.
In Colorado, hundreds of arts organizations have received government support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and no one expects them to begin producing liberal-leaning plays and songs.
Dictionary definition of the word Truth.
Independent journalism is protected by the First Amendment. Since when is belief in the First Amendment a liberal idea?
Reporters have to put food on the table too. How do you think investigative reporting happens? It is not conservative marketing malarkey — it is researched and covered, often requiring hours sitting in government meetings and pursuing leads, requesting documents that aren’t freely offered.
Advertising rarely covers the investment in providing independent news; it requires grants, donations, and yes some support to protect the existence of a free press, which our founders considered a bulwark of democracy.
If the Build Back Better Bill were to pass (and that may be in doubt) and if that specific funding remained within the bill, it obligates no one – any more than the tax breaks given to big business obligate them to support the policies espoused by conservatives — other than their natural inclination to protect their backsides.
Journalists don’t have an affection for “liberal thought”, nor are we obliged to take positions of those who may provide financial support. We have an obligation and a sacred democratic duty to report fact-based truth. Even when we — or you — don’t like the truth, that is still what it is.
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