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Editorial: Just doing our job as a newspaper

Printing photographs is all a part of the reporting process

We are a newspaper and our job is to report the news. Often the news is not good and the saying, “no news is good news” means we are not doing our jobs. Take for example the head-on collision that happened on Monday in Sooke. It is our job to report what happened. It may not please some people but we would be remiss if we didn’t report what we saw, and what we see is often in the form of photographs. Don’t get mad at us because we are doing our job.

With social media it is so easy for people to respond emotionally in the heat of the moment. People post their comments immediately expressing their point of view. They don’t take the time to call or even write a letter - that would mean that someone has thought about what they want to say rather than start on a rant through emotion.

In a perfect world we wouldn’t have accidents and all would be well, but we all know accidents happen. People need to know what is going on up ahead and why they are stopped. That’s the beauty of social media and also the curse.

There were some instances of community spirit and there was an instance of greed during Monday’s accident. Someone was reported to be asking for $5 to have a vehicle turn around in their driveway, while someone offered their washroom to motorists stuck in the lineup and another was offering water to a child. You see the best and the worst of people, especially in stressful situations.

The issue in all of this isn’t the posting or not posting of photos — it is the road. We have had at least five incidents on Sooke Road in the past month or two, that’s five too many. Sooke Road is our lifeline. Sure there is the Circle Route but if you can’t go east or west that is out. What needs to happen is that drivers need to slow down, pay attention and avoid distractions.