In a day and age where the lines are blurred between news, analysis and opinion, how do you tell which is which?
Staffers at the Kansas Reflector had different ideas on the question following a visit to the Lyon County History Center last week. Editor in Chief Sherman Smith, a Lyon County native and Emporia State graduate, says it’s important for people to be “choosy” with their news outlets and the stories they produce.
Opinion contributor Max McCoy, a former journalism advisor at Emporia State University, says news consumers have some homework to do.
Reporter Rachel Mipro says some comparison and contrast is always a good tactic to use.
The Reflector staff, which also included Opinion Editor Clay Wirestone, came to Emporia shortly after the situation involving the Marion County Record had cooled off somewhat. The Record was raided by Marion Police after a restaurant owner complained about the newspaper’s investigation into her driving record — and also while the paper was investigation concerns about Police Chief Gideon Cody’s conduct while a member of the Kansas City, Missouri police force. Smith and McCoy say they were heartened by the support for journalists expressed worldwide in light of the raid, but they also say they have grave concerns about an increasing push against journalism and labeling that reporters are “enemies of the state.”
