Journalists must walk a fine line every day — a fine line between what is newsworthy and what isn’t.
That’s a struggle we all face when we hear white supremacists are making Potter County a destination for hate.
We report on it. We have to. We have an obligation to tell people that this self-titled “terror machine” will be meeting near them. We know if we were driving past a large party in someone’s yard, our first thought wouldn’t be “that’s a bunch of white supremacists recruiting others to their incomprehensible cause.”
We received a phone call Tuesday from an irate student of a local university, angered that we would write a story that was, in her opinion, a call-to-arms for like-minded people.
She felt The Era is condoning white supremacy. We are not. She felt we were trying to help recruit members. Again, we are not.
And we strongly disagree with that interpretation.
It’s very difficult to try to write an unbiased story with a message you abhor. We’ve done it time and again, and each time, to intense criticism.
Years ago, a group of three female reporters from The Era were tasked with the job of covering a funeral for a local war hero — Master Sgt. Thom Maholic. One reporter had to talk to the Westboro Baptist Church, the hate group that protests military funerals for reasons that make no sense to anyone but themselves.
That reporter struggled for years after. The story was unbiased; the reporter was an emotional wreck. But that doesn’t make the paper.
Alex Davis, the reporter who spoke to the white supremacy groups, is a religious and caring man. But his personality and viewpoint don’t belong on any page but this one.
All we can do is contact places like the Anti Defamation League to counter the points made by these groups. And keep our thoughts and feelings out of the story.
We, like everyone else, are left to wonder about the thought processes that make anyone decide to be part of a hate group.
Do these people understand what the ideals are that they are supporting? Are they really for the mass extermination of millions of people? Or are they simply going for the shock value?
Would the newspaper be better off ignoring the horrific things in life? Would the public be better off if we painted a rosy picture of everyday life in small towns?
We might feel better about things, but to what end? Should we bury our heads in the sand and ignore the hatred?
Wouldn’t that promote an even greater fear of the unknown?
To understand what the white supremacists are about is to be prepared to stand up for your own beliefs.
Hate us or thank us, the message is the same. We’ll bring you the news. What you make of it is on you.
