EDITOR’S NOTE: With our Opinion page series, A NEWSROOM VIEW, we hope provides readers with a window into what we do, why we do it and our connections to the community we serve. This week’s column is by news reporter Jim Brock.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers [and] be capable of reading them.”

Jefferson understood that information is power. And for more than two centuries, Americans have trusted journalists to deliver that information in the form of the news. Whether that news came from newspapers, radio, television or the Internet, our industry has kept the people informed.

The press is the only private-sector job mentioned in the Bill of Rights, so journalism was intended to be a virtuous and noble profession.

If there were a journalism equivalent to the Hippocratic oath, I would gladly take it, as history will one day be told by our words.

But America has become polarized. Meridian is even polarized. The things that separate us have grown exponentially, and America is losing its sense of solidarity.

Political and religious views, race, gender, sexual orientation are among the many things that keep us world apart as Americans. One nation under God is becoming increasingly divisible every day.

According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, the number of Americans who “express consistently conservative or consistently liberal opinions” since 1994 has increased from 10 to 20 percent.

“As a result, ideological overlap between the two parties has diminished: Today, 92 percent of Republicans are to the right of the median Democrat, and 94 percent of Democrats are to the left of the median Republican,” the study found.

The number of Americans with negative views toward the opposing party has also doubled in the last two decades, as “most of these intense partisans believe the opposing party’s policies ‘are so misguided that they threaten the nation’s well-being,’” the study found.

But we can’t forget about the media. Many espouse the belief that the so-called mainstream media is nothing more than liberal bias posing as journalism. This point is driven rigorously by right-wing media, and it has caused a schism among American journalists. The war among journalists — with right-wing media covering the left-wing media — has become an everyday affair. It’s entertainment — reality TV — and people love it.

I am here to tell you that some of us truly take pride in our duty — our higher calling if you will.

Our political and social beliefs notwithstanding, being as honest as humanly possible is much more important than changing minds.

Opinions stay on the editorial page where they belong.

As community journalists, we want to deliver the news accurately and objectively, but that doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes. We will get things wrong. We are still human beings. But getting the story first does not trump getting it right. At times we might forget that indispensable fact, but we quickly learn to “slow our roll” and get back to the basics of good reporting. We either fix the problem or start getting our resumes together.

Lest we forget — we work for you.

Period.

As we struggle to compete in the age of the Internet, newspapers have turned to their websites to supplement print editions. Soon, those roles will be reversed. It is conceivable that the majority of newspapers will be completely digital in my lifetime.

According to a study from the American Press Institute, social networks are the Millennials’ choice for news consumption.

“Overall, just 47 percent who use Facebook say that getting news is a main motivation for visiting, but it has become one of the significant activities they engage in once they are there. Fully 88 percent of Millennials get news from Facebook regularly, for instance, and more than half of them do so daily,” the study said.

But the younger generation aren’t the only ones on social media. According to a Jan. 27. 2017 New York Times report, adults 35 to 49 were found to spend an average of 6 hours 58 minutes a week on social media networks, compared with 6 hours 19 minutes for the younger group. More predictably, adults 50 and over spent significantly less time on the networks: an average of 4 hours 9 minutes a week,” the report said.

We update our Facebook and Twitter accounts regularly and hope you take advantage of those resources.

Reporting under the umbrella of a trusted news outlet lends credibility to a story. With social media, someone might share a bonafide “fake news story” 10 times in three minutes before anyone realizes it is a hoax.

It’s like Mark Twain once wrote, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

I wonder if Mr. Clemens knew just how correct he would be in the year 2017.

It goes without saying that responsibility, integrity and professionalism matter when reporting the news.

Under the direction of editor Dave Bohrer and news editor Bill Graham, two seasoned and integrity-driven journalists, we strive to deliver the best possible news coverage to our community.

We care about the people in our community, whether you like us or not. It is our job to hold our leaders accountable, even if that means upsetting the status quo from time to time.

Good, solid reporting is one thing this country cannot do without. I hope you stay with us along the path to finding the truth.

Ponder that!

Jim Brock reports on local government and businesses for The Meridian Star. Email jbrock@themeridianstar.com, follow him on Twitter @jbmeridianstar.