I found it interesting that TM Storke despised obscenity in the local newspaper. I’m guessing he would despise the amount of obscenity that appears in the Santa Barbara Independent as well. A copious number of gratuitous f-words are my personal objection — like Storke’s apparently. I realize that in our current environment, people spew that word in place of more civilized language, but still, I think your writers should avoid using completely — even if using a quote.
Reporters today can still be actual journalists. All too often presentations of fact are actually just personal opinions and invective masquerading as truths. A simple way for reporters not to be the “enemy of the people” is to present the story, leaving out their personal bias.
In the case of the Independent, where hatred of President Trump seems to be universal, it is not possible for your reporters to write a balanced, intelligent story. Instead of reporting, you have commentary, which excludes the 50 percent of the country that actually likes the job President Trump is doing. In many cases, the Independent is the “enemy of me”
Here’s to you having many more years of despising our president — barring an epiphany of realization of American success.