EDITORIAL: KSAT12 News fights for truth amid threat of 'Fake News'

SAN ANTONIO

“The liberty of the press is essential to the security of the state.”

John Adams, Second President of the United States of America

For more than a generation, KSAT12 News has been your trusted source for local news, weather, sports and information. We are dedicated to being the authentic, local voice, a reflection of our community. It’s our North Star. It’s what drives us to serve you.

The journalists who are part of the KSAT12 Newsroom live where you live. We work in those communities. Your issues are our issues. Your truth is our truth.

And we are fierce protectors of the truth.

- We are fiercely committed to telling the local stories that are important to our communities.

- We are fiercely committed to holding truth to power – asking tough questions and getting answers that help make the lives of those in our local communities better, safer, stronger.

- We are fiercely committed to the principles of a free and open society, and understand that fighting for open access, transparency and accountability is more important than ever, particularly in an era where the media is under attack at the highest levels of our democracy, and in our own backyards.

As the TRUSTED source of news in our community, it is our primary mission to empower the public with information.

  • When severe weather breaks out or a civil emergency erupts in our cities – local news is the first-place people turn to for information that can, in fact, save lives.
  • We go toward the story – to the border communities thrust into the national spotlight, rural areas where migrants journey for miles under the hot South Texas sun.
  • We head into the storm - toward hurricane-ravaged coastal communities that continue to rebuild in the face of a devastating blow by a Category 4 storm.
  • When we see public officials betraying the public trust, we go after the truth. We dig for the facts, we pour through open records, we demand answers. We hold them accountable.

We go toward the story. We don’t back down from it. We do this for you.

That’s journalism – on the local level.

As journalists, we are the connective tissue for our communities.

We stand up for you.

We give a voice to the voiceless.

Through the power of information, we enable our communities to ACT.

In recent months, truth, information and freedom have been threatened, all through a pithy little tagline that has become far too common:

Fake News.

"Fake news" is news that is not real, NOT truthful stories you don’t like. "Fake news" is the polar opposite of what KSAT12 News delivers to you every day, whether it’s on your television, your computer, your smart phone or your streaming devices.

News organizations all across this country have been assailed as purveyors of "fake news." Journalists in communities large and small have been decried as "enemies of the American people." Reporters, photographers and producers have been targeted – in some cases physically assaulted – fueled by an anti-press contempt that is permeating the national discourse.

So despite these recent attacks and given the role the media plays in an open, democratic society, we will continue to be fierce protectors of the First Amendment on behalf of the communities we serve.

There’s nothing FAKE about that.

Local news is the REAL DEAL.

And that’s the TRUTH.


About the Authors

Bernice Kearney is the news director at KSAT.

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