We are cautious about Facebook for various reasons that include fake names and profiles, deep fake images, falsified information, fabricated stories and just plain old lies. 

That does not mean, however, that there aren’t also true and disturbing things posted and warrant additional reporting. 

We do, however, take our time to investigate, vet and verify. 

Simply posting something on the internet does not make it true.

Even viral videos sometimes are not what they seem to be.

Video can be altered, edited, falsified or simply contain a select portion of what actually took place.

Anyone can post anything on YouTube or Facebook.

A newspaper has a responsibility to fact check.

A newspaper should never knowingly print false information.

That does not mean newspaper reporters cannot be duped or that they do not make mistakes.

However, newspapers take what they do seriously and have high standards for verifying the information published in print or online.

Today newspapers strive to post information as soon as it is available.

Many of our readers have opted to receive free text alerts and push notifications of breaking news, sports and weather in our coverage area.

The goal of the newspaper is always to be the leading source of information.

However, we understand that being the leading source of information only matters if that information is accurate and reliable.

How many times have you read something on Facebook only to find out later it was simply not true?

We always hope to be first when it comes to sharing the news, but we will not sacrifice credibility in order to beat the social media crowd that often rushes to post unverified information.

There are people and organizations — some even claiming to be the “media” — that are quick to post anything sensational or scandalous, whether it has been verified or not.

We want our readers to know when they read the news in print, on the newspaper’s website or its social-media accounts they can rely on that information.

No one should ever claim something is true just because they “saw it on the internet.”

However, you should have confidence in the veracity of what comes from your local newspaper.

When it comes to breaking news in our community, more often than not we will be the first to have it.

When we do post breaking news, you can have the confidence of knowing, however, that we took the time to verify the information before posting on our site, sending a text alert or broadcasting it on social-media accounts.

Anyone who is going to report news has a responsibility to verify the information in the report.

That is what we do each day.

So, if you see something local going viral on the internet and think the newspaper is ignoring the posts, more than likely we are doing our due diligence to look into it for you so we can publish a more fully vetted report. 

It’s our job. It is all a part of our ongoing efforts to report facts, celebrate community and demand accountability in ways you can trust.