The beauty of our U.S. news and information systems is that individuals get to say what they want to say, with only a few restrictions.

The challenge is that people, including news organizations, routinely combine opinion and fact, and state their opinions as if they are facts. Even “facts” are sometimes presented without any evidence of their actually being true, which means that these “facts” could be misleading or complete falsehoods.

If we cannot control how and what people say, then one solution to this problem is for readers/viewers to recognize the difference between opinions and verifiable facts.

The mix of opinions, facts and falsehoods was very clearly demonstrated by every writer on the March 26 editorial page of the Recorder.

For example, in his recent column “Invasion at the border deliberate,” John O’Rourke repeatedly referred to the “Biden regime.” Regime, according to the Oxford dictionary is “a government, especially an authoritarian one.” It is of course, Mr. O’Rourke’s privilege to characterize Biden’s administration as a “regime.” That is an opinion however, not a fact, and certainly not a fact that O’Rourke has supported with any evidence.

One also reads O’Rourke’s statements written as absolute truth, “Biden regime claims the border is secure.” It is not so straightforward as that, and to say so is at best misleading. In past years of the Biden administration, his representatives have said the border was secure but needed significant improvement. This qualified answer is arguably different than a claim that “the border is secure.”

Most importantly, as recently as January 2024, well before O’Rourke’s column was published, Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked Biden if the U.S.-Mexico border is secure, and Biden said, “No, it’s not.”

It is important for readers/viewers to recognize when an important “fact” such as the above example is presented. Before it is believed, it should be verified from multiple unbiased news agencies, including a news source that does not usually represent your opinions (the example above references news sources that typically offer different presentations of facts/opinions).

Another characteristic of the blending of opinion and fact occurs when writers assume they know what other people are thinking. One March 26 letter to the editor demonstrated this with, “Liberal Democrats want to control what car or truck you buy, cook stove, furnace and more, by taking away your options.” The writer stated this as if he knows it to be a truth for all liberal Democrats, but this is in fact, simply his opinion. It is his interpretation, not the stated agenda, of ideas and policies put forth by some Democrats. His interpretation may or may not correctly interpret Democrats’ agenda. It certainly does not represent the hopes of all Democrats, even though the writer has stated this as if it were a fact.

Another contributor openly acknowledged his opinions, writing, “I fear ...” Nevertheless, a few adjectives present in his statements slant the presentation of facts toward his opinion. He references ideas “that can only be gravely destructive,” rather than simply stating for example, “ideas that reduce financial resources to low-income families.”

A third writer routinely used the phrase, “I believe ...” which helped the reader know that we werereading an opinion, not a fact. Even she, though, stated that Putin had not endorsed Biden. Yet according to numerous sources, Putin said, “Biden is better for Russia than a Trump presidency.” Not exactly an endorsement, but pretty close. The lesson being that before we embrace any “truth” we must check a variety of news sources, especially ones that use actual quotes from the person being referenced.

To its credit, as I read the front page of March 26 Greenfield Recorder, I was unable to find an example of reporting that blended opinion and fact, though this does occasionally occur. It is also true that every day this paper (and every news source) renders an opinion on what is newsworthy and what is not. Out of the millions of things that occur each day, only a very few actions are published for the public to read/view.

The most basic point here is that there is a difference between opinion and fact. “A horrendous windstorm” contains an opinion. “A 100 mph windstorm lasting 2 hours” is a set of facts. It is an interesting and informative experiment to ask with each statement that one hears or reads, “Is this an opinion? A fact or a possible falsehood disguised as a fact? A mix?”

Especially as we head into the presidential election, it is important that citizens recognize the difference between these things if we are to elect our president based on information that is real. Then, using that valid information, we can exercise our individual opinions as to what is best for our country.

Marie Betts Bartlett lives in Shelburne Falls.