A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news

Our View: Choose pandemic resources with care

We live in an era of overwhelming information. And you’ve heard it before in this current micro-era of divided politics: Be careful where you get your news. Perhaps you are. Or perhaps you’ve chosen to remain in a comfortable bubble where your political inclinations are massaged and confirmed.

But this is deadly serious. We are living in a pandemic the likes no one alive today has seen before. The swiftness of the coronavirus spread, and its devastating effects on not only the medically compromised but also the relatively healthy, calls for a public being aware and armed with solid information that can help us through this.

There is so much noise. So much clutter. It’s easy to get roped in. If we are practicing social distancing correctly, we are staying home. And that means we have more time on our hands than ever before. Time to dive deep into the tangled web of information out there.

Please use caution. Know your sources. Use your common sense. Digest information as if your or a family member’s life depended on it. Because it does.

A fellow Minnesota newspaper, the Free Press in Mankato, aptly described last week the landscape we find ourselves in today:

“News that is transmitted by Facebook, Twitter, Google and other social platforms can be completely false. The tech giants have no legal liability or responsibility to make sure any of what they transmit is true. Facebook leaders have even gone so far as to reject the idea of taking down falsehoods because they are someone’s ‘version of the truth.’”

We are doing our best as your local source of news to provide accurate and helpful information. If it comes from another source we trust, we will make sure that is noted. The Pine Knot News is using our website and social media platforms to get that information to the public in a timely fashion. Our weekly printed product is designed to give a longer view, a historical view, in a historic time. We are also aiming at providing ways to cope in such an uncertain time.

We want to include readers in the conversation. We also are limited by social distancing, so hearing about what you are experiencing isn’t going to come from reporters walking the beat or knocking on doors. Let us know your story. Let us hear what you’re hearing. We will digest it, find more sources, and maybe write a story.

Have something inspiring? Have a simple observation or idea? Let us know.

We are here to provide accurate and useful information to people right here where you live.

While we all may be keeping our distance for now, there’s never been a better time to rally as a community. The Pine Knot News wants to help facilitate that in our posts and on our pages.

Trust us as a source. And let’s get through this together.

Send your thoughts to:

Email: [email protected]

Mail: Pine Knot News Editor, 122 Avenue C,

Cloquet MN 55720

The Pine Knot News encourages readers to participate on these pages. Let your voice be heard.

 
 
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