(Please read this slowly. I’m suffering from my Christmas gift given to me by my daughter — a cold.)
The mainstream media, and even quite a few of the smaller groups in and around Minnesota, were essentially caught flat-footed when a YouTube feller broke a story about billions of dollars fraudulently going to daycare centers in Minneapolis.
While this is the latest, and certainly the most publicized, bit of citizenry “journalism,” it’s not the first. It certainly begged the question on whether it is necessary, or even right, for people to jump into the fray. And yet …
A few days ago, my former editor posted his thoughts on a similar subject. A social media quasi-journalist site was in a standoff with the local police department regarding a link to the online scanner frequency for the department and reporting on what was transmitted.
The site pointed out, rightly so, that this was freedom of the press as well as the public-record nature of the scanner frequency. The police claimed, also rightly so, that what was broadcast on the scanner wasn’t the story, only part of it, and could paint the department in the wrong way or even put officers’ lives in danger.
My friend didn’t take a side, but it points to a couple of things that we as a society need to seriously consider.
For instance, if you’re like me and have spent any time watching videos on social media, you’ve run across those “gotcha” videos, where regular folks mousetrap potential child predators, all on video and posted on the internet, which everyone knows is forever.
These are a cut above the “caught cheating” reality shows that used to be popular (and mostly staged).
While I absolutely agree that child predators are a subset of society that needs to be erased, I’m not sure that civilians needs to be the driving force there. What happens when things go sideways? Law enforcement officials have training and equipment to deal with problems, but a regular person armed with a cell phone could be walking into serious danger. Then there are proper procedures that need to be followed in order for an investigation to end with a conviction, which regular folks aren’t bound to follow.
The other side of that coin, though, is that in general, resources available to most police departments makes it impossible to investigate every complaint, causing frustration on the part of parents and concerned adults. Many of us feel that if the authorities, or the media, do their jobs properly, then these approaches wouldn’t be necessary.
For me, the underlying issues in all of this is consequence. The consequences of a legal system unwilling or unable to perform all of its duties is more and more bad behavior; the consequences of a press corps not operating in good faith to seek the full truth is an ignorant society, ready to hare off and pursue its ends without the benefit of all the facts; the consequences of a society recklessly attempting to right wrongs where others fear to tread, all of which leaves us incorrectly believing that any response to a problem is the correct response.
It's not. But each of these areas, with a little trust and a lot more effort, can together become the answer to the ails of society. Truthful reporting can highlight a problem, society can come together to form a solution, and the proper authorities can perform their functions with the full backing of everyone except the criminals. When things are done right — from the start — the results will be right.
Vigilante justice, outlaw media and unsupported authorities lead to anarchy. We know how to work together, we just have to do it.
Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He can be reached at tony@polkcountypublishing.com.
