This letter is written neither to support nor to oppose any ballot issue. It is written instead to highlight the Aurora Advocate's irresponsible reporting practices in the weeks leading up to the March 4 election.
As a journalism educator for 30 years, I can say with certainty that even my beginning journalism students understand their legal responsibility to safeguard the public against inaccurate information published in a newspaper, even if that false information appears on the paper's opinion pages.
For weeks, I have seen one confounding "fact" or "statistic" after another appearing in letters to the Advocate editor, attempting to create a negative opinion of Aurora's public schools with statements that, with very little investigation of public records, could easily be proven to be grossly inaccurate, if not totally fabricated.
Newspaper editors have a social responsibility to provide readers with accurate, objective, untainted information that the public can use in its decision-making, especially its political decision-making. The Aurora Advocate has clearly failed in its responsibility to edit figures and statistics for accuracy, even as the editor meets his responsibility to provide a public forum for readers to exchange opinions based on truth"the most essential ingredient in our democracy.
Roseann Canfora, 176 Hurd Road, 216-469-2533