Is public fraud infuriating? Yes.
Is political corruption an insidious, destabilizing debasement of the public trust and the public good? Absolutely.
Should fraud, waste, and abuse be sought out by watchdogs and reporters, and all wrongdoing on the public dime exposed? At every turn.
It’s exactly what I’ve been doing my entire career as a journalist.
Whether it’s covering the petty corruption of a local sheriff, a charter school scam dreamed up on a Waffle House napkin, payday lenders fleecing Ohioans into endless cycles of financial desperation, or the biggest political bribery scandal in Ohio history, my professional life has been built around exposing and peeling back scandals through fearless, fact-based reporting for the people.
Holding those in power accountable to the citizens they’re supposed to serve, that’s the job description of any reporter worth a damn.
I worry these days.
I worry that even fraud and public corruption is being politicized in the playhouse of chaos, dishonesty, and misinformation that dominates America’s online discourse.
When clickbait accusations substitute empirical evidence, when wild-eyed conspiracy theory substitutes fact-based reporting, when social media provocateurs masquerade as journalists while following none of the ethical and factual standards of professional reporting, I wonder what happens to a society.
Because here’s the thing: When you don’t follow ethical or factual standards, you’re not a journalist; you’re a propagandist cosplaying as one. You’re a cheerleader twirling and waving your pom-poms, not a referee calling out-of-bounds.
Happens all the time, right? Sure.
But we should be clear about how it degrades our entire system of accountability.
It creates confusion, not clarity. It complicates questions and makes it harder to deliver answers.
It doesn’t faithfully inform or educate, it condescends and manipulates.
It plays people for suckers.
Moreover, false allegations do tangible harm to real people.
That’s the opposite of accountability. It’s injustice.
It can incite people to extreme or violent actions based on careless falsehoods at best, and outright lies at worst.
It’s a moral and ethical abomination, to knowingly be so reckless. It’s a blight on humanity at-large, to say nothing of the stain on the individual.
It also perpetrates a compound injustice by distracting people away from real, factual scandals, in favor of fantastical, unproven, fact-free, alleged scandals.
Fraud, waste, and abuse? It’s happening all the time. National, state, and local levels.
Over-worked, under-paid reporters throughout the country are covering such things on a daily basis.
But their good, honest work often gets drowned out in the cacophony of screaming, fact-free sensationalism.
You know who wins when that happens? The real perpetrators of actual fraud, waste, and abuse.
Finally, it pushes people into camps of unreason, where any possible scandal on the other side is the most heinous crime ever committed upon humanity, and any factual crime committed by the partisan team’s side can be rationalized and excused without a thought or pang of conscience.
This turns many people into partisan-hack hypocrites, defending the indefensible, excusing the inexcusable.
You know who wins when that happens? The corrupt and the lawless, no matter the side, robbing the public blind.
So yes, please, get mad about fraud and corruption — all fraud and corruption — but stick to facts over sensationalism, and never sacrifice your virtue, your honor, or your principles on the altar of mindless partisanship. To the grifters, swindlers, and screwheads, that only turns you into the easiest of marks.
This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal. View the original article.
