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This week, I appeared on the Impact of Influence podcast with my friends Seton Tucker and Matt Harris to talk about a recent column I published on the true crime genre. To read the column, click here. To listen to the show, click here.
The gist of both? A belief that truth – which for us flawed human beings will almost always be a moving target – is best served by the free flow of ideas. By remaining open to new information and new perspectives – and by being willing to admit when we are wrong.
At FITSNews, I’m proud of our ongoing commitment to hosting a vibrant marketplace of ideas – one in which all intelligent views are welcome (whether I agree with them or whether they are critical of me and this outlet or not). I’m also proud to work with people who are committed to going where stories take us – not where we think they ought to go. Being open to new information – and to criticism – is central to the pursuit of truth.
I believe in a lot of things – and I’m not at all shy about saying what I believe. But the belief which underpins this journalistic experiment is that we are all participants in a conversation – participants in the “marketplace of ideas.”
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This principle was articulated by U.S. supreme court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. – who coined the term in his famous dissent from the 1919 supreme court case Abrams v. United States (250 U.S. 616).
“The ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas – that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market,” Holmes wrote.
Indeed. And rest assured, in this marketplace no one has a monopoly.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again … our purpose at FITSNews is not only to report on the world as we see it, but to host a discussion of competing ideas. A discussion that’s open to everyone – especially those who find themselves appearing in our coverage.
Campaigning for office? In the midst of a scandal? Disagree with something we wrote? Want to highlight an issue we haven’t covered (yet)? Our microphone is your microphone.
Want to join the conversation? Here are our submission guidelines …
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THE GUIDELINES …
(FITSNews)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
