Our View: Why don't we just cover positive news?

It’s a question that frequently pops up whenever there’s unflattering coverage of a governmental entity or group — often posed by those at the center of that coverage:

“Why don’t you focus on anything positive?”

It’s a question with loaded meaning, as “positive” generally means something along the lines of “issues that don’t make us uncomfortable.”

Regardless of the issue, from recent coverage of campaign signs for a special tax election to coverage years ago of a Sweetwater County sheriff who paid his son and daughter-in-law for services that included creating greeting cards for employees and the years-long controversy of management at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County by management firm, the question of covering the positives has repeatedly cropped up through the years.

One of the core beliefs of journalism is to hold those in power accountable. Any publication or broadcaster worth anything will hold that ideal above anything else. The audience for a media company and their interests should come before anything else.

When it comes to taxpayer money, local government action or even the actions of a quasi-governmental group like the Green River Chamber of Commerce or the Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition, we firmly believe the interests of our readers takes precedence over other considerations.

We think people have a right to know about what is being done by people tasked with serving the community in one form or another and sometimes that leads to difficult questions and subjects being brought up.

Regardless of if they’re elected to their role or hired to perform work in a public capacity, the actions of officials and administrative employees should be under continual examination because transparency should be promoted whenever possible. Transparency is important because it promotes trust in the organizations that aim to serve the residents of Green River and Sweetwater County.

Asking any media outlet with a journalistic focus to seek only the positives about an issue or organization also lends itself to asking them to manage the public perception of that issue or group — something we think should definitely be avoided.

Journalism isn’t public relations, and while some things we do will inevitably promote a group, that doesn’t mean an organization’s public image supersedes the obligation we have to our readers.

If we allowed that to happen, why even pick up a copy of the Green River Star?