Leading the community down a rabbit hole

Dear Editor:

The Blue Ridge Leader is leading the community straight down the rabbit hole with an opinion piece based on conspiracy theories by Joe LaFiandra in your January 2021 issue.

The piece, supposedly deriding fake news, espoused fake news. It referred to how, “the leftist control of television, internet, and print media … the outright stuffing of the ballot boxes, and more in key swing states were enough to pull Joe Biden over the finish line.”

I would like to know, after a team of lawyers, election observers, and scores of conservative judges couldn’t find any evidence of election fraud, how you know that someone “stuffed the ballot boxes?” If you have evidence, come forward. If you have heresay, do not treat it as fact.

Media is a business. It is run by businessmen who have economic incentives to put a conservative slant on the news, it is written by journalists who come from all different perspectives who may desire to put a conservative or liberal slant on their stories, and it is consumed by the public who, more and more, choose to read content that fits their mindset.

The truth is, LaFiandra is mostly upset that his views are not mainstream. We can have real conversations about how to ensure unbiased information gets disseminated, a very important subject indeed, but only if he is willing to discuss the facts. LaFiandra disseminated fake news.

 He derided media with an obvious slant one way, and held up media with an obvious slant the other way as “unbiased.” In times which have shown us just how dangerous spreading false information can be, I would hope that the Blue Ridge Leader would endeavor to print only truth and fact, and keep all of its opinion pieces clearly set apart with a disclaimer, that the views expressed therein are solely of the writer and not of the publication.


Amelia Hertzberg
Hamilton