Check It Out: We’ve got to get back to the truth

By Joan Janzen

A cartoon sketch showed a subject to the king, approaching the throne. The commoner reported to the king, “The bad news, Sire, is that the famine is getting worse. The good news is that food fights are way down!”

In real time, the good news is two veterans in the news industry entered their careers in broadcasting with the intention to inspire, encourage, tell the truth and help people have hard conversations. The bad news is they felt they had to leave broadcasting after nearly thirty years of service.

Journalists Dominique Sachse and Fanchon Stinger were interviewed on Phil in the Blanks. Several years ago they both made the decision to leave their promising careers in broadcast news, and Dr. Phil asked them why.

Dominique said she felt frustrated with the lack of truth in the industry. “I didn’t like that facts were being left out of storytelling. I was clearly seeing there was another side of the story that wasn’t being told in both scenarios,” she explained. “I didn’t like feeling like I was a liar or leaving out critical information that would help the viewer make the best decision for themselves.”

Fanchon also voiced her reason for leaving the industry. “I spent nearly 30 years building my credibility that people have come to trust. So I know when critical facts are left out of stories, and when you’re intentionally not covering stories,” she said. “I’m accountable for the words I say.” She witnessed people being intentionally censored and realized she couldn’t be a part of that and live with herself.

Consequently, she found herself ostracized in the newsroom when she didn’t go along with the narrative. “I had people who stopped talking to me. I had a boss threaten me and say, ‘You’re going to read what’s on the prompter’. I said I can’t because it’s biased and not true.”

Her fellow journalist chimed in, saying, “I want to be very, very clear. My opinion doesn’t matter and is completely irrelevant.” As a journalist, she said she needs to be willing to look at both sides and ask hard questions of both sides.

Fanchon described the media as one of the most powerful forces, which is why so many countries use it as propaganda. “The media in the right hands, with the right motivation, dedicated to truth, being unbiased and objective, is a powerful, beautiful force,” she said. “But the media with the wrong motivations can be the most destructive force, and I watched that play out.”

The host asked his guests why they thought this was happening in the industry. Dominique made the following suggestion. “Agencies that own these news outlets are looking at the dollars. If you do stories that might go against their advertisers, it might affect revenue.”

Another suggestion came from Fanchon who noticed there were stories that didn’t show up on the wire. Prior to making the decision to leave the news outlet, she spent her hours at home watching every single thing that was happening. Armed with all the information, she knew what stories were missing.

“People used the excuse that they didn’t know about it,” she said when she asked why the stories were ignored. “It is happening so much that it’s become the norm within the industry, and anyone that has the courage to speak up against it is going to face retaliation.”

She also expressed concern for people who have grown to trust the news industry over the years, and are unaware of the bias she observed. “They’re watching and thinking they’re getting the truth, so we have a segment of population that is literally believing stuff that is not true,” she said.

At the same time, Dominique observed there’s a whole younger generation that doesn’t consume a lot of news, and the little they do consume they get from Tik Tok. “So how do you know what’s factual anymore?” she asked. “We’ve got to get back to truth.”

However, Fanchon said people have been taught to believe “that your truth is what you feel, so we have truth that changes based on emotionality,” she observed.

Dominique said she recalls growing up in the 1970s and 1980s when people on both sides of the aisle would have conversations about politics, and even though they had different stances, they agreed to disagree. “But these days, you lose friends if you’re not politically aligned,” she said.

Both journalists thought they had permanently left their careers behind, until Dr. Phil made them an offer. “I take the position that we follow the facts. You can’t pick your truth based on how you feel or where your advertiser dollars come from,” Dr. Phil said. Both the veteran broadcasters took up his offer and together are hosting their morning show.

Although they met each other for the first time on opening day of the show, they discovered they had a lot in common. “We also have this weird thing where we will say the same thing at the same time, with the same expression,” Dominique laughed. “It happens several times a day, and it’s a reminder how special our working relationship is.”

After years of faithful service, they enjoy every day at work hosting Morning on Merit Street. “We’re delivering news and giving people information they need to make decisions for their lives,” Dominique said. The good news is they’re getting back to the truth.