To The Eagle:

In regard to last week’s excellent article about journalism’s value, I thought the writer’s perspective that media plays an important role for all of us was spot on - regardless of our political slant.

Being a democracy, it is crucial that all of us are as educated and informed as possible when we vote. If everyone spent just 20 minutes or so a day reading a variety of news sources about domestic and world events, political decisions, local events, etc., we wouldn’t need to worry about fake or biased news. This is because we’d be able to “connect the dots,” and realize what was and wasn’t reasonably true. It’s not that tough, especially once you verify the author and information source.

We should be thankful for the media. Think about how a variety of media sources collectively bring out issues we’d never know of otherwise. A few that immediately come to mind are: Watergate, Iran-Contra arms sales, Monica Lewinsky, and of course our current “alternate facts” situation.

So forget about the political affiliation that’s tattooed on your arm. Let’s remain objective, do our homework to stay informed, and realize how fortunate we are to be in a country where the press truly does have freedom to print.

Ironically, I just read on Bloomberg where Bob Corker, the Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee (a very responsible position that’s directly correlated to immigration, right?) found out about Trump’s Immigrant Executive Order issued Saturday, online, via CNN. Thank you media!

Bill Wainwright

Cathlamet