Previous Issues
Happy to be told we're wrong
?In Roger Varley’s mid-term Cup of Coffee with Mayor Bob Shepherd, which begins on page 3, the Mayor predictably has a few complaints about the Uxbridge media, which comprise ourselves and the other publication over on Bascom Street.
In our case, the mayor particularly cites inaccurate reporting as the thing which most nettles him, although he was not able to provide Mr. Varley with any specific examples. This is not the first time we’ve heard rumblings, mumblings or grumblings from municipal headquarters that we got things wrong in a story, column or editorial. Rarely, however, has anyone, staff or member of Council, phoned or e-mailed us to tell us what our mistake was; in our almost four years of existence, we have received less than a handful of specific complaints from 51 Toronto Street South pointing out factual mistakes in our copy. In fact, this is our 195th issue, and we have published no more than a dozen corrections in that time (one of them appears in this issue, on page 6, from Bev Leslie of the BIA).
Perhaps what the politicos and chief bureaucrats at the Township mainly object to isn’t what we say, but how we say it, in other words, how we interpret municipal goings-on. That’s their right, certainly, but it’s a lot different than saying we get our facts wrong.
Not that we claim to be perfect, we’ve caught our own mistakes a lot more often than you have. There was the infamous New Year’s issue a couple of years ago when not only did we totally reverse the score in a crucial Bruins game, we also printed the same “Barris Beat” we’d treated you to in the previous issue. We claimed hangover as an excuse for that week’s paper. And we make our share of typos and layout booboos; we’re human, after all.
But overall, we’re quite proud of our dedication to getting it right. Our list of contributors consists of a wide variety of writers: veteran journalists like Barris, Stemp & Varley; experienced freelancers like Linda Lee Purvis or Lisha Cassibo; gifted amateurs like Roger Pires or Jennifer Carroll; or youngsters just starting out, like Amy Hurlburt or Karl Manis, talented and eager to learn. What they share is a keen desire (honed by my insistence as editor) to get the story as complete and accurate as they can.
Mr. Varley, in the last line of his bi-weekly column, specifically asks you to tell him if he’s wrong. But it could be taken as a theme for all of us here at the Cosmos. We of course welcome debate in our pages, that’s what a community newspaper is all about, giving the readers a voice if they want one. But beyond agreeing or disagreeing with our columnists’ point of view, we need you to tell us if our facts are askew.
Don’t just stew or mutter about it to your husband, neighbour or co-worker, although of course you’re welcome to do that as well. But pick up the phone or call up your e-mail, or get all old-fashioned and write us a letter. All our contact information is right below this editorial. It does us no good, nor the rest of our readership, if you keep your objection to yourself. We, and they, will just go on mistakenly believing our facts were right in the first place.
When we began this newspaper, we took it’s name from two things, both of which you’ll see on our cover: the Township’s official flower, and an alternative word for “universe”. But in our very first issue, a Greek beekeeper on Ashworth Road told us another meaning: “the people”. It was perfect.
We want this to be the people’s newspaper. We want you to participate. So jump right in and tell us when we’re wrong. We can take it.
