The truth is out there: look for a sign

Being Frank, by Frank Ameduri

I've got a big blue and white sign hanging above my desk. It says, "Don't believe all you read in the Frontiersman." You've probably seen some of them around. I love the sign. It reminds me how important it is to our readers that I work hard to get my facts straight, and that people need to believe the things we print. It also reminds me that I'm not perfect -- that I can't take myself so seriously that I'm afraid to admit when I'm wrong.

Sometimes we get it wrong. In fact, in Friday's edition, an article and the editorial will talk about how we recently got it wrong in an edition of the newspaper. Sometimes everybody gets it wrong. Once in a church bulletin parishners read this: "The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.' The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'" Some parishners may have gotten the wrong message. "Don't worry, folks," the pastor must have said. "Jesus made it back in the boat, and he even managed to fish Peter out to safety, too."

That's what counts most, the recovery. It matters that you strive to be error free, but also that you take responsibility for your errors, and that you strive to set things right. It's what some people call character, and what my grandfather would have called "respectability." It's also the reason why we put the giant, Frontiersman flag on the top of page one, and why you'll find Frontiersman at the top of every other page in the newspaper. It's why our reporters all put their names at the top of the articles they write, and their e-mail addresses at the bottom. It's why we invite readers to write us when they think we're wrong. To print those letters, we only ask that writers attach their names, because we think that's respectable and honorable.

Here are a few of the mistakes we've made recently: We recently ran a headline on the front page that used the word peak when it should have read peek; we instructed our readers to look for the continuation of a couple of stories on one page when the stories actually went to another page; we even transposed some names in a crime story and made it seem like a Trooper pepper sprayed himself and then put himself in the back of his own car -- after putting up a pretty good fight first.

Here's a correction that ran in another newspaper: "Last Sunday, the Herald erroneously reported that original Dolphin Johnny Holmes had been an insurance salesman in Raleigh, N.C, that he had won the New York lottery in 1982 and lost the money in a land swindle, that he had been charged with vehicular homicide but acquitted because his mother said she drove the car, and that he stated that the funniest thing he ever saw was Flipper spouting water on George Wilson. Each of these items was erroneous material published inadvertently. He was not an insurance salesman in Raleigh, did not win the lottery, neither he nor his mother was charged or involved in any way with a vehicular homicide, and he made no comment about Flipper or George Wilson. The Herald regrets the errors." Yikes.

The truth is, you can't believe all you read anywhere, but you can believe the Frontiersman is the most accurate source of news about the Valley, and you can believe we'll correct any errors we do make. The fact that we put our names on the articles we write is our guarantee that we're committed to getting it right.

Anyway, somebody dropped off one of the signs at my office, and it's hanging over my desk right now. Since the owner accidentally forgot to put his or her name on the sign, I have no way to return it. If you'll drop by the office for a visit and a cup of coffee, I'd be happy to return it to you. Maybe we can discuss your views in person. You can also submit a letter to the editor to more specifically address your grievances, but don't forget to sign that one, we insist upon integrity. Of course, you can't believe all you read in the Frontiersman, so there's that problem.

Frank Ameduri wrote this column … believe it.