Josephine County has found itself in the middle of a troubling communications experiment. Certain elected officials have decided to act as their own news outlets—not through legitimate media organizations with journalistic standards, but through personal and campaign-linked social media pages. These pages are being presented to the public as credible news sources, yet they exist solely to control the narrative, not to report facts. The result is a dangerously muddled information landscape in Southern Oregon, where rhetoric is often mistaken for reporting and ethics appear to take a back seat.
Unlike genuine news organizations that follow established reporting practices, these pages are operated without editorial oversight, fact-checking, or transparency. They are built to persuade, not to inform. Posts are selectively worded, dissenting voices are often blocked, and inconvenient facts are ignored. Instead of functioning as public servants accountable to their constituents, some local officials have taken on the role of broadcasters, pushing their own interpretations of events and presenting them as objective truth. This deliberate blending of political messaging and pseudo-news has created a distorted media environment that blurs the line between public information and political propaganda.
In legitimate journalism, facts drive the story. Reporters verify claims, investigate multiple perspectives, and provide balanced coverage. Controlling the narrative, by contrast, is about steering the public’s perception through selective storytelling, repetition of talking points, and emotional framing. In Josephine County, this tactic has become a tool of governance. Officials use their platforms to shape public sentiment, undermine critical coverage, and build personal political brands—all while sidestepping the ethical responsibilities that come with operating a media outlet.
The situation is compounded by the lack of meaningful oversight. The Oregon Government Ethics Commission, which should address conflicts of interest and improper use of public office, has done little to intervene. This inaction has allowed a complex and dangerous dynamic to flourish: elected officials disseminating curated narratives through personal channels while presenting them as fact, with no regulatory check. The public is left to sort out what is real and what is rhetorical, often without the tools to make that distinction.
This breakdown of clear boundaries has real consequences. When elected officials become their own storytellers, the public conversation becomes one-sided and exclusionary. Local residents seeking accurate information encounter a tangled web of competing claims, partisan framing, and personality-driven narratives. Traditional local media, already stretched thin, is often forced to spend valuable time correcting misinformation rather than pursuing new stories. The result is an increasingly polarized community where truth becomes secondary to loyalty.
Southern Oregon now faces a pivotal question: who gets to define the news? The answer should be straightforward—news should come from journalists who follow ethical standards and factual reporting, not from politicians seeking to shape their own image. Allowing elected officials to dominate the narrative unchecked undermines public trust, weakens democratic accountability, and endangers the role of a free and independent press.
The distinction between reporting the news and controlling the narrative is not a matter of style; it is a matter of civic health. When politicians masquerade as media outlets, ethics are compromised and the public loses. Josephine County’s current media landscape is not the product of journalistic evolution—it is the result of officials crossing lines they were never meant to cross, and agencies failing to stop them. That combination has left Southern Oregon residents navigating a fractured, manipulative information environment where truth must now be fought for.