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On July 1, The Daily Bee ran a story by an unnamed source associated with the Associated Press. “Police report assaults at Portland protest” presented a flimsy overview of a march in Portland which was disrupted by a group of Antifa protesters without providing any detail about who started what, who did what and who was arrested.

According to “The Oregonian”, as reported by Emily Zanotti of “The Dailywire, (dailywire.com) the Antifa crowd interrupted a peaceful, permitted march by a group named Patriot Prayer. Antifa, without permits, had “utility knives, clubs and chemical sprays”. The “anti-fascist counter-demonstrators immediately began lobbying eggs, half-empty water bottles and firecrackers.” The police broke up the protestors and terminated the march.

While the Dailywire and the Oregonian reporting should be examined for accuracy, they do provide a desirable amount of detail and are willing to put their names on the story. In this time of anonymous sources that dirty the names of responsible reporting media, The Daily Bee has an opportunity to prove that genuine, real reporting is possible. Even though many major news outlets appear unwilling to take the lead, The Bee could show that small-town newspapers will do the right thing . Who knows, the major news outlets might notice and hire away our good reporters, which might hurt temporarily, until new reporters wanting to be good reporters themselves will sign on to build up the Bee’s staff.

JEREMY CONLIN

Cocolalla