I’m stepping out on a limb this week, but it’s not for political reasons, whatever anyone might say. It’s in defense of my beloved journalism and the threat I and others see looming on the horizon.

Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, has been quoted as saying “We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets” in the paper’s opinion pages. Bezos said people are still more than welcome to write opposing opinions or on other topics, but they can be published in other outlets.

In addition, Chief Executive Will Lewis said in a memo to staff that the changes to the opinion section were “not about siding with any political party.”

“This is about being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper,” he said.

Well. As far as I know, though I have only been doing this for 38 years, a newspaper is not supposed to stand for anything except the truth, accurate information. If a newspaper “stands” for a particular opinion, or refuses to share information from another perspective, are they still the trustworthy, reliable source that the public counts on?

I don’t think so.

Are there times when we publish opinion pieces in the Salisbury Post that I don’t agree with? Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Because an uninformed public is a public that can be taken advantage of, misled and abused. All sides of an issue should be explored.

I believe in providing all the accurate information on an issue, all that can be verified, and trusting the educated public to make decisions. Our own experiences will always color how we see the world, but it’s still essential that we have the facts.

To pretend otherwise is not only folly, it’s dangerous.

President Trump has said he is considering suing members of the media over anonymous sources, saying they likely do not exist. And that, too, is setting a dangerous precedent because those anonymous sources are people who are truly reliable, but who are often afraid to put their names out there for fear of retribution. But they want the information they are sure of to be shared with the public.

Bear in mind, journalists, who have training and who understand ethics and responsibility, are still going to verify information they print. They are still going to do their due diligence. They won’t just rely on unnamed sources without checking the information. And journalists will protect those sources at all costs. It’s not just not using their names, it’s also keeping their identities secure from persecution, so the source can feel safe in continuing to provide information.

The more those sources are threatened, the less likely we are to be able to get accurate information. And the less likely we are to get accurate information, the more likely it is that the public will be unaware of what our governments, from local to state to federal, are doing.

Threatening accurate, trustworthy journalists, who are committed to their job and the responsibility that comes with it, is a huge disservice to you, the reader.

I look down the road and fear a state media is what the federal government is moving toward. State media is another name for public relations for the government. It’s about spin, it’s about skewing facts, it’s about keeping the public in the dark, letting them know only what the government wants them to know.

And it’s not what a newspaper is, or should be. A newspaper is not about choosing sides, and it’s not about declining to share any thoughts on issues the leadership disagrees with personally.

If local newspapers become afraid to print things, we are lost. As long as we continue to verify, to support our facts with evidence, and to allow for publication of opinions on all sides and not just one, we can fulfill our committed role. But if we are going to begin to cut out anything we disagree with, we are not a news outlet anymore. We’ve become nothing more than entertainment. If that’s the case, I’ll choose TCM every day.

Elisabeth Strillacci covers crime, courts, Spencer, East Spencer and Kannapolis for the Salisbury Post.