Editorial — Beware of election propaganda this week

October 24, 2014 · 0 Comments

We are in the final days of what has been a long municipal election campaign.
There are many who are looking forward to Monday night and the end of it all, including the voters, candidates and even we in the media. Elections campaigns, while an exciting part of living in a democracy, can be pretty grueling.
We know some of you have already voted, and hope that the rest of you are planning to get out to the polls.
But we also urge all of you to be on your guard against false or slanted information that might be distributed in the dying days of the campaign.
What you’re currently reading is the last edition of the Citizen that will come out before election day. Thus we are being careful about what gets printed this week regarding the campaigns. If a candidate is unfairly attacked, there is no chance for he or she to rebut it.
There are rules governing what we can and can’t print in a newspaper. There are fewer laws controlling what can be shoved in your front door, or be handed to you on the street. When people (and that includes those working on political campaigns) get nervous or even desperate, there are lots of low levels to which they can stoop.
This is something to keep in mind until the polls have closed Monday.
If you get something election related at your door, or handed to you in the street, by all means take it and read it. Most of the people seeking office in town are trying to show their honesty and integrity, as are those volunteers who are working on their campaigns. But read the material carefully, with an eye to how accurate it likely is. Remember, if the information it contains is true, then ask yourself why it didn’t come out sooner. Why would the people issuing it wait for the last days of the campaign, knowing the person being attacked has no real chance to respond? In a lot of cases, that is exactly why it comes out so late — no chance to respond.
If the material contains charges against a candidate or group of candidates that makes your jaw drop, then work on the assumption that it’s garbage, because it probably is, and treat it accordingly.
If it’s in paper form, please make sure you recycle.
And also make sure you get out to vote.