Did you know that there are three senior managers at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre, and each one of them earns more than $100,000 per year?

Scandalous!

You didn’t know that? Little wonder ... because it’s wrong.

Actually, there are two managers at the ARC – one for the pool, the other for the rest of the facilities, and both make less than $85,000.

Yes, but ... were you aware that Abbotsford city hall has bought a fancy suite at the Entertainment and Sports Centre, where councillors take their friends and business big-wigs to see Heat games and concerts for free?

No? Weren’t aware? Can hardly blame you. That piece of information is junk, too.

Well then, you’ve no doubt heard that a bunch of highly paid city managers jetted off to Phoenix on the taxpayers’ tab for a week of fun and frolicking.

Outrageous, if it were true, which it is not. They paid for the trip themselves, used holiday time, and it was work-related.

These are but a handful of the tainted tales we dutifully track down, after understandably irked citizens relate the latest flagrant abuse of public money, which they learned from “someone who knows.”

That person likely got it from someone else, and as the damning details are passed along, they invariably become embellished.

Usually, these tantalizing tidbits are also accompanied by an accusation of appalling bias, which is supposedly why we don’t report “the truth” about what’s going on at city hall.

My career in newspapers has spanned some 30 years, fortunately all at fine, award-winning papers.

And at every one, the aforementioned scenario plays out in some form. The players change, of course, but the theme is the same.

Someone knows something juicy about something going on at city hall, but “the media” is too scared to report it.

Here’s some truth for you.

Every community has its public watchdogs.

Some of them are very good. Their information comes from real inside sources. They research. They are careful about what they allege.

And as a result, those folks often see their concern and effort result in great “gotcha” stories. (The press likes those as much as the public.)

And then there are the rumour-

mongers – who think they’re in the know, or badly want to be, but aren’t.

They don’t fact-check, or have the wherewithal to do so. Their “sources” are usually individuals engaged in the same contrived drama.

They operate on the principle that if their accusations aren’t immediately challenged, they must be right. And if denied, it obviously must be a cover-up, and the media is part of the conspiracy.

How simple and convenient.

As a general rule, most editors, including this one, are more than willing to pin city hall to the wall if there’s substance to a claim of financial wrongdoing, or inappropriate conduct on the part of a politician or civil servant.

What most editors are not willing to do is publish hearsay. That’s not “truth” – it’s rumour.

Hearsay information has to be investigated and proven. If the latest coffee klatch tidbit isn’t reported, it’s because it can’t be corroborated.

There are rules in modern journalism. One is called fact. Another is known as fairness, both in reporting and in comment.

They don’t apply to gossipers.

Keep that in mind the next time someone tells you “the truth.”

And we’ll do our job, and run it to ground.