{"id":801125,"date":"2019-11-07T14:56:28","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T21:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=374166"},"modified":"2019-11-07T14:56:28","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T21:56:28","slug":"opinion-susan-knopf-my-writing-process-focuses-on-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/opinion-susan-knopf-my-writing-process-focuses-on-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion | Susan Knopf: My writing process focuses on facts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Susan Knopf \/ Summit Daily News<\/strong>
Susan Knopf \/ Summit Daily News<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The former editor of this paper, Ben Trollinger, asked me to
\nstart writing a weekly column, rather persistently, for more than a year. I
\nthink he was looking for an authentic, accurate progressive voice to respond to
\nvitriolic claims of fake news. Trollinger, like my husband and I, expressed
\nthat he is committed to freedom of the press and vigilant that the press should
\nrespect the public trust.<\/p>\n

I think Trollinger got the idea I might be the person for
\nthe job when my husband, Jonathan Knopf, and I wrote our interpretation of the
\n2016 Colorado election results in \u201cBig
\nmoney wins big in Colorado<\/a>.\u201d We exposed that Coloradans were persuaded
\nto vote against their best financial and health interests by relentless
\nexpensive ad campaigns funded by corporations that were motivated, not
\nsurprisingly, by their bottom lines. The next month, I wrote the \u201cThe
\nanti-press conference<\/a>.\u201d After several more columns in 2017 and 2018, we
\nsealed the deal with \u201cFree
\nspeech taking a backseat at Backstage<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had had enough. I decided the commonplace he said, she
\nsaid approach to modern news gathering is insufficient for regular people \u2014
\npeople who are not news junkies like me \u2014 to figure out what\u2019s true, what\u2019s
\nimportant. I call this column \u201cFor the Record\u201d so you know you can
\nrely on the information.<\/p>\n

The sources I cite are all legitimate mainstream sources
\nlike U.S. government studies and data sets. When I\u2019m looking for a quote,
\nsomething I\u2019ve seen in the news, I turn to the New York Times, The Washington
\nPost, The Wall Street Journal, The Denver Post, PBS or other networks. I also
\nlike to use YouTube, so you can see the newsmaker speaking. Sometimes I\u2019ll
\nreference newer online media sources. For local stories, I interview local and
\nregional sources. The No. 1 concern for me is accuracy.<\/p>\n

If your read the column, you will sometimes find citations
\nfrom Fox or other conservative outlets, generally considered to be biased. I
\nuse those sources, when they concur with mainstream media. I like to show my
\nconservative readers that even the conservative media agrees with this
\nassertion of fact.<\/p>\n

I know the New York Times and Washington Post are often
\nconsidered left bending by those on the right. Some conservatives I know
\nconsider them inaccurate. When there is any question of fact, I use multiple
\nsources to confirm my understanding of the facts. There are media rating
\nservices I use to evaluate each source.<\/p>\n

The online version of this column has links to sources. When
\nI submit the column to my editor, Nicole Miller, I list other sources I
\nconsulted but were not cited or linked, thus Miller knows I used good
\ninformation from which to draw my opinions. Again, my No. 1 concern is
\naccuracy. <\/p>\n

My conservative counterpart at this paper, cited a source
\nwhich is considered biased and ranks only \u201cmostly accurate<\/a>.\u201d
\nI don\u2019t used primary sources like that. You deserve better. I respect your
\ntime. I try to pull together sources to give you a definitive comprehension of
\nthe facts. If your reading me, then you know I have a progressive viewpoint,
\nand I\u2019m going to see those facts through that lens. But I only use the facts,
\nand I attribute those facts.<\/p>\n

There are a handful of readers who like to write me and
\ndispute the facts. And its easy to understand how that happens. In a recent
\ncolumn, my conservative counterpart cited Federalist Media,<\/a> which on Oct. 2 ran an article so chock full propaganda, I\u2019m not sure how the
\nsite garners such a high \u201cmostly accurate\u201d rating.<\/p>\n

The wholesale disparagement of media is both insulting and
\ndangerous. In my research for this column, I found journalism referred to as
\nthe \u201clamestream
\nmedia<\/a>\u201d by a U.S. government employee. I respect freedom of speech, but
\nsuch a statement would have been unthinkable when I was a Washington intern in
\na senator\u2019s office. We have wandered that far from what we all consider our
\ntraditional values.<\/p>\n

My early life was influenced by a Rotarian. I\u2019m committed to
\nthe Four Way Test:<\/p>\n