Credibility is the heart and soul of journalism. If we don’t get it right, people will not be able to trust us as a source of information.
Even here on the opinion page, there is a difference between providing a well thought-out viewpoint and a rant.
Politicians, on the other hand, can speak about the impending apocalypse should you not support their position on policies.
Al Gore was a hanging chad away form being president, and he told us in 2009 that there was a good chance the polar ice caps would be 75 percent melted in the next five to seven years.
We are eight years past that prediction, and the polar ice caps are still in tact.
Last year he predicted that climate change was “boiling the oceans.”
Clearly, another instance of the boy who cried wolf.
That’s the problem with what we’ve been witnessing in politics in America.
And it didn’t start with Kamala Harris. In many ways she may be the victim of those who accuse other of conspiracy theories while spewing dangerous rhetoric themselves.
There’s a way you know it’s fake.
Now that the election is over, the language is very different. Harris called Donald Trump to congratulate him on winning the election and committing to a peaceful transfer of power.
That might include a tongue-in-cheek jab at Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021 incident, but it was also an acceptance that the American people chose Trump to be the president.
It’s amazing voters would make such choice if you believed Harris, her surrogates and the Hollywood elite.
According to them, Trump was akin to Hitler. He was a fascist, mysogynistic racist. He was going to destroy America, and the only way to save it was to vote for Harris. Oprah Winfrey went as far to say that electing Trump would be the last election ever in America.
Programs like MSNBC, CNN and the rest of the legacy media jumped on board, spreading the concepts that Trump was going to institute interment camps and arrest journalists and leaders of the opposition.
Is that a person you would call and congratulate?
Joe Biden, after referring to Trump supporters as ultra MAGA extremists and garbage, also called Trump to congratulate him and said he accepted the decision of the American people in choosing Trump.
How can the hatred and vitriol be so strong on Monday and then say everything will be just fine on Thursday?
How do you maintain any credibility?
The bigger challenge moving forward will be the upcoming debates on the differences of opinion in the halls of Congress.
Once you’ve accused the newly elected president of being Hitler, and the American people soundly reject your argument, and now you are going to claim that a pending bill will destroy America, who will believe you?
By now, the American people know better, that these cries of extremism are just that — nonsensical political jabs meant to get your way.
The problem is that America needs reasonable debate with challenges to policy proposals and a willingness to compromise on all sides.
But drawing lines in the sand on every issue has become tiresome. And one day, we may face a real threat from a would-be dictator, but by then we will have grown so numb to the cries that we won’t recognize it when it is real.
That’s the cost of lost credibility.
Earl Watt is the owner and publisher of the Leader & Times in Liberal, Kansas. Watt started his career in journalism in 1991 at the Southwest Daily Times. During his career, the newspaper has won a total of 17 Sweepstakes awards from the Kansas Press Association for editorial content and 18 Sweepstakes awards for advertising. Watt has been recognized with more than 70 first place awards for writing in categories from sports and column to best front pages, best sports pages and best opinion pages. Watt is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and is the descendant of several patriots who fought for America's freedom and independence.
