Dishonest outdoor columnist?

In the more than 30 years I’ve been in the newspaper business I’ve encountered very few dishonest journalists.

Only a couple come to mind and they were plagiarists who were quickly run off by their peers.

The job typically pays so little and asks so much that there isn’t time to make stuff up. There’s seldom time for more than the facts.

Because of my “real world” experience with journalism, President Trump’s attacks on the “dishonest” media have me befuddled. I wonder at what point in my career — had I been a climber — would I begin to encounter the dishonesty or begin to spew lies of my own?

A number of former colleagues of mine went on to bigger newspapers and media outlets without any apparent lessening of their ethical standards.

Perhaps the president, who himself has a hard time telling the truth, simply assumes everyone else is lying, too, especially when the news doesn’t flatter him.

He’s become that old joke. How can you tell when the president is lying? His lips are moving.

Donald Trump and his handlers are certainly not journalists. They mistake opinion for fact, run with single-source stories, and go to press without fact-checking their information.

The president is also thin-skinned, never a very survivable attribute for a journalist, even more so these days.

I, on the other hand, have a tough hide, thickened through years of withering appraisals of my work.

I’ll undoubtedly be criticized for writing this column.

“What’s the outdoor columnist doing writing about politics?” someone will ask.

Well, this outdoor columnist still considers himself somewhat a journalist. If the president was calling outdoor columnists dishonest I’d have no problem with that. They’re like fishing guides, you can’t hardly believe a word they say. Journalists, however, always get hung up on the truth. I’m proud to be numbered among them.

An early mentor of mine at the Livingston Enterprise used to say you didn’t want to get in a pissing match with an outfit that buys ink by the tanker car. This president apparently never heard that homily.

So here’s a little of that ink in defense of journalism.

That same editor also suggested a motto he thought would work for most newspapers. I think it’s especially appropriate in these trying times.

“The best we could do with the time and resources available. We’ll print corrections tomorrow.”

Parker Heinlein is at

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