Dear editor,
Ian Tocher’s opinion article in last week’s Eatonton Messenger, titled “Public media on the Trump chopping block,” raises an issue all citizens should be aware of and concerned about.
Mr. Tocher supplies facts as to the amount the Corporation for Public Broadcasting currently receives through Congressional approval and the cost to individual taxpayers, $2.94.
In contrast, Donald Trump complains that public media represent a left-wing conspiracy to undermine “true American values,” which are left undefined. This is a key tactic of Mr. Trump: make broad, unsupported statements that somehow sound patriotic.
What is important to understand is that there is a difference between truth and opinion. For something to be true, it must be based on facts supported by evidence. Let me give two examples to illustrate this point.
Here is the first one. I was talking to a neighbor who said he voted for Trump, not because he felt some aspect of his proposals for America were necessary for our nation’s security and well-being, but because the other candidate got to where she was by sleeping her way to the top.
When asked what the source was for this statement, he said social media was full of those suggestions. When I mentioned the candidates’ accomplishments of being a District Attorney, Attorney General, a United States Senator, and serving as Vice President, he had no comment. My neighbor did not understand the difference between truth and opinion.
The second example is more encouraging. A friend and I recently had the opportunity to speak to a high school class on the topics of: Is something true because a lot of people say it’s true? And what makes something true?
There was a lively discussion. Many questions were raised. The students agreed that we should not get news and information from one source or point of view. They also concluded that for something to be true, it had to be based on fact, not on opinion. Just because a lot of people say something is true, does not make it true.
In a note, the students thanked us for showing them that today’s world is complicated, and that it is important to question what is being said to determine if it is based on fact or a view we agree with.
Democratic processes require citizens to make this determination, or we will not have laws and government actions based on what can be proven, but based on someone’s opinions. The information from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is fact-checked.
It therefore merits being funded by the federal government to be in the mix of information available to people.
Janet Kelhoffer, Eatonton