The Editor,
Re. “Everyone has a stake in defending freedom of the press” (Opinion, The Tri-City News, Aug. 24).
While I strongly agree with Kirk LaPointe’s accusation against Trump being “the largest democratic threat [to journalism],” I am compelled to voice my dissent with his other claim that “[journalists are] driven by a determination and an objective of greater transparency and insight.”
Contrary to Mr. LaPointe’s claim, I’ve seen a surfeit of occasions where the objective of supposed transparency has been blatantly violated, the truth grossly distorted for the sake of expediently selling information to a credulous public who regard the evening news as gospel.
Nowhere is this example more scandalous than for the topic of mental illness.
In fact, mental illness has so frequently been sensationalized and misrepresented in the news that an indelible stigma has been seared into the minds of the mass public, who consequently believe the lie that schizophrenics are violent and dangerous.
Nothing could stray further from the truth when, in reality, the vast majority of schizophrenics are peaceful and law-abiding, although their tales of benevolence never grace the pages of our newspapers simply because such stories are unsalable.
Two years ago, I watched a news story about a baby-snatching whose perpetrator was claimed to suffer from a mental illness; in conclusion, the reporter stated: “The mentally challenged can be dangerous. It’s well documented that some of our most horrific crimes... are mental health-related.” All the while, images of the infamous Greyhound bus tragedy and other related incidents flickered over the television screen.
When I wrote a vehement letter criticizing the press for this malicious misdeed of one-sidedness, as did many other disgusted viewers, not a single letter was published to rectify the misrepresentation.
While individual journalists might strive to portray the news ethically and transparently, their obligation to their work contracts and the pressure to sensationalize and to omit — for the sake of maximizing sales potential — will ultimately result in a biased distortion of reality both on the page and the screen.
Peter Toth, Port Coquitlam
