Journalistic integrity takes the kind of cojones not everyone possesses

By Johnny Trlica

Commentary: “I don’t censor my writers.” Those are the words every writer wants to hear when their work faces calls of suppression.

Imagine a world where what a newspaper publishes is determined by whether the subject of the article is a paying advertiser. Not censoring writers encourages bold, authentic storytelling, instead of writing to please a specific audience or being afraid to offend a sponsor.

ABC News agreed to pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to President Donald Trump’s future presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit. The core of the dispute centered on statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos during a 2024 episode of This Week. While interviewing Representative Nancy Mace, Stephanopoulos repeatedly stated on-air that a civil jury had found Trump “liable for rape.” In other words, he told the truth.

What ABC News should have done is say, “We don’t censor our news reporters when they’re telling the truth, and we’ll see you in court.”

Over in the Entertainment Division of ABC, they proved to be just as spineless as their news counterparts. Jimmy Kimmel Live! was taken off the air following comments Kimmel made about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The network, fearing local station boycotts and regulatory retaliation, announced that the show would be “preempted indefinitely.”

The action ignited a massive national debate regarding free speech and government interference in late-night television. Trump celebrated Jimmy Kimmel’s initial suspension, claimed the show was permanently canceled and threatened legal and regulatory action against ABC when the host was reinstated less than a week later.

What ABC should have said all along is, “We don’t censor our comics and go screw yourself if you can’t take a joke.”

Paramount, owner of CBS, was seeking a merger with Skydance, owned by billionaire Trump-backers Larry and David Ellison. Paramount, to curry favor with the new administration, settled a $16 million defamation lawsuit filed by Trump regarding an edited 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.

Shortly after, CBS announced that frequent Trump critic Stephen Colbert’s top-rated late-night show was cancelled. While the network publicly attributed the decision to purely economic reasons, both Colbert and critics suspected the cancellation was a political concession with the incoming Trump administration, which had to approve Paramount’s corporate merger with Skydance.

What CBS should have said is, “We will run our top-rated news and late-night programming the way we see fit.”

As the Montrose Star marks its 50th anniversary, news as well as opinion columns have always been a part of the paper. When Laura Villagran bought the Montrose Star in 2010, she asked me to come on board shortly afterwards. In the 16 years I’ve been writing for the paper, I’ve penned news columns and opinion pieces and never have I been asked to edit or change something because it may not please one of the paper’s sponsors. That’s integrity. 

A couple of years ago, I wrote a blistering commentary on a scandal plagued LGBTQ+ organization that had lost the respect and trust of a large portion of the Bayou City’s LGBTQ+ community.

Little did I know that as I wrote the column that same organization had purchased an ad in the paper. The Montrose Star ran my column exactly as I had written it. Word for word. Would I have changed what I wrote had I been called and told something like, “Hey, they just bought a bunch of advertising, can you rewrite your column and tone it down?”

I’d like to think I would have had the integrity to say no, what I wrote is true. What is important is that I was not asked.

Our editor’s response when questioned by the organization’s representative showed the kind of cojones the big boys at ABC and CBS should have shown. “I don’t censor my writers,” was Laura’s response. While always there, that cemented my respect for her and the direction of the paper.

Journalistic integrity is the adherence to ethical principles, professional standards and truthfulness in news reporting. It forms the foundation of public trust, ensuring that media outlets serve the public interest rather than commercial or political agendas.

Sometimes that takes some pretty big cojones.

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