In these most tumultuous of times, when the term “fake news” is bandied about liberally by almost everyone - including the president of the United States - accurate reporting has become more important than ever.
With a General Election only weeks away and a dizzying array of digital platforms offering news round the clock, it can be difficult for audiences to know who to trust. Only days ago, MPs criticised online behemoth Facebook for not acting quickly enough to remove fake news from its site, saying the integrity of democracy itself could be at risk if more action is not taken.
It was these issues at such a crucial juncture that prompted Newsquest, publisher of the Herald, to join an industry-wide campaign against fake news, which launches today. Despite wide cynicism, research shows that readers retain high levels of trust in local and national newspapers like the Herald; the Fighting Fake News campaign aims to harness this trust and show how journalism can help uphold democracy.
As pointed out by the Herald’s editor, Graeme Smith, this paper - now in its 235th year – has a long and proud tradition of fair and impartial coverage. And in these days of free and inferior content providers – many of whom are not subject to the same legal restrictions as the press - supporting real journalism and holding the powerful to account is vital.
The Herald has a strong reputation for both, of course. In February, our business rates campaign exposed the anomalies unfairly and adversely affecting many businesses that risked damaging the Scottish economy. Following our coverage, the Scottish Government announced a raft of measures to help businesses. Our Grey Matters series, meanwhile, was praised by politicians of all parties for its examination of the serious issues facing the country due to our ageing population.
Our journalists thrive on reporting and analysing the news that affects Scotland and its people. And we’re proud to be part of any campaign that supports and encourages good journalism across every platform.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
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