There is a “Puck” cartoon from 1888 which caricatures the “evil spirits of the modern daily press” as grotesque elves running loose, presumedly to infect the readers and local population. It’s amusing in the historical vantage of present day, as most people (we assume) are keenly aware of the place occupied by scandal, cheap sensations, lies, etc. We know they’re still traded in entertainment, disgust, outrage, embarrassment, and for some, jail time.

Judgements of who or what publication or source to trust for truthful information on a long-term basis is and should always be of paramount importance to each of us, even though historically partisanship has always played a role. Civil discourse and knowledgable understanding of where a “free press” fits into our dialogue with each other is one of the valuable tenets of liberty. It’s what we understand as a core value enshrined in the First Amendment.

We’re safe and satisfied, to a point, that “Congress shall make no law …” yet it’s bizarre that a psychiatric caseload of bad behavior embodied in a single human continues to punch the bag of accurate news that doesn’t pay homage to the lies he prefers to tell.

The demons of 1888 and earlier are still thick as wheatpaste in his rollicking skull. It’s a problem for him. It’s also a problem we recognize in the proverbial “cousin Vinnie” we may know. But superficial allegiance and blind identity simply don’t move us to trade truth for a bag of marbles.

The immediacy of the internet age and “sources” of information won’t protect us from misinformation or deliberate deceit in a time when readership and subscriptions to serious newspapers of journalistic integrity are at an all-time low.

When leadership is being hijacked by a babbling narcissistic fool of demagoguery, it’s critical to protect the truth, to stand firm on principles and values and reject that this period we’re passing through is a new normal.

Ronan Hernon

Bristol