Dear Editor:

In response to Mr. Topinka’s letter dated March 2, I agree that we need a free press, but it has to be fact-based and honest. If not, it is doing a great disservice to the American people who need to be told the unbiased truth.

My husband and I have personally experienced emotionally charged news. There was a fire in our apartment building where two people died of smoke inhalation. All smoke detectors in the apartment had been disconnected by the tenants. There were several other people who escaped by way of a secondary fire exit. The story was front page news the next day. The article had an anti-landlord slant and it reported that the secondary exit was blocked. We were unaware of this and asked the fire marshal and the people who used that exit if it was true. They all said it was not true. We had been responsible landlords and were upset that the reporter did not bother to check the facts and depicted landlords in an unfavorable light.

I fully agree that we need a free press, but people who report the news need to take responsibility for their words and actions and report only fact-based news while avoiding emotional and political spin. If they don’t, I agree with Trump. They are an enemy of the American people.

Carolyn Samaras

Boothbay