So what should I call a false statement by a public official, in this case Salem City Councilor Warren Bednarz?
"Misstatement"? "Falsehood"? "Untruth"? These are fine words, and sometimes they are the best to use. But in this case I feel justified in using "Lie" in the title of this blog post.
As you can read below, I got a report that Councilor Bednarz spent several minutes at a Salem neighborhood association meeting criticizing me and this blog -- claiming that I spread "half truths" on it.
That got me fired up.
I do my best to be accurate in what I write about. When someone points out a error in a blog post, I check that out. Repeatedly, I've invited the Mayor, city councilors, and other Salem officials to let me know when they think I'm wrong.
So far, they haven't done so. Not about any matters of fact, just of opinion.
Most recently, Councilors Brad Nanke and Jim Lewis silently admitted I was right and they were wrong, as I happily blogged about in "Salem City Councilors admit I was right and they were wrong. Sweet!"
Now I'm three for three, councilors-admitting-I'm-right-wise.
Warren Bednarz ignored my two requests to, bluntly speaking, put up or shut up about this blog spreading half-truths. I said in my second email to Bednarz:
Councilor Bednarz, I wanted to be sure you got this message. If I don’t hear back from you by the end of the week I’ll assume that you aren’t able to tell me any supposed “half truths” that I’ve been sharing on my blog and Strange Up Salem page.
Well, it's Monday. The week is over. My truth-telling blogger reputation remains intact. Councilor Bednarz, though, has been called out as a ________ (this time I'll let you insert your favorite synonym for liar).
Here are the messages that I sent to Bednarz via his official City of Salem email address.
First email to Bednarz, sent September 10, 2015
Councilor Bednarz, I’ve gotten a report on last night’s SCAN board meeting from someone who was there (not Tom Andersen). Reportedly you spent several minutes “dissing” me and my “little blog,” saying that I spread “half truths” on it.
Well, I invite you to reply to this message and tell me exactly what untruths I’ve been spreading.
OK, not only invite — I challenge you to do this. I’m always concerned about accuracy in my blog posts. When someone points out an apparent error in something I’ve written, I’m eager to check it out and make corrections as necessary.
Recently I sent several messages to you and other City officials about the last council meeting. At that meeting I was accused of spreading misinformation. Yet so far no one from the City of Salem has been able to point out what, exactly, the misinformation consisted of.
So I’m assuming that the “half truths” you mentioned to the SCAN audience didn’t have to do with the early sales of marijuana issue. What, then, are you talking about? Tell me, specifically. Then I can check out what you claim are half truths or untruths. Like I said, I’ll be pleased to make corrections on my blog if I’ve been wrong about something factual.
I can’t resist commenting on your “little blog” reference.
I started my HinesSight blog in 2003. (I also have a Church of the Churchless blog, which dates from 2004.) Since, HinesSight has had 3,618,000 page views; I’ve written 2,695 posts; there have been 10,287 comments on those posts. Currently HinesSight gets about 1,200 page views a day.
Thus I have a lot of experience on my HinesSight blog alone in responding to commenters. My Churchless blog has had even more comments, over 30,000. I mention this to show that my personal blog isn’t all that little. Also, to show that I have engaged in a lot of back and forth with blog visitors.
I can only recall a handful of times when genuine significant factual errors have been pointed out to me.
Before I retired, my professional background was in health services research, planning, and policy analysis. I was an Executive Service manager with Oregon’s State Health Planning and Development Agency, which involved conducting special studies for the Governor’s Office and state legislators.
This is past history, of course.
I mention it, along with my blogging experience, just to show that I have a strong background in collecting and analyzing information in an accurate, defensible manner. I’ve also written three books, each of which involved much pre-publishing fact-checking, editing, and reviewing by outside readers. I completed the course requirements for a Ph.D. in Systems Science way back when. So your comments at the SCAN meeting were, frankly, fighting words to me.
I look forward to you being able to back them up. Or, not. The “half truth” ball is in your court. Serve me some specific accusations about what I’ve gotten wrong on my blog regarding City of Salem affairs.
— Brian
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Second email to Bednarz, sent September 14, 2015
Councilor Bednarz, I wanted to be sure you got this message. If I don’t hear back from you by the end of the week I’ll assume that you aren’t able to tell me any supposed “half truths” that I’ve been sharing on my blog and Strange Up Salem page.
Since you made this accusation in a public/official setting, naturally I’ll feel duty-bound to publicly let people in Salem know that you couldn’t back up your "half truths" statement after I asked you to do so. Or, maybe you can. If so, I look forward to hearing from you, since I’m always open to being corrected if I truly do get something wrong.
— Brian
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