Last week, during my avoid-going-to-bed-because-this-is-my-only-alone-time-as-a-single-mom scrolling, I came across a Friday Harbor Rant and Rave post about Amazon trucks in Washington State Ferry’s Lot C. It caught my attention because I was under the impression that the agreement between Amazon and WSF for that lot’s use had been terminated. (You know, since I’m the squeaky wheel who made the calls and asked the questions that ultimately made WSF come to that conclusion — and then call me personally about it prior to my article on the subject publishing.)

I looked at the photo, read the caption and clicked the comments. There, I hilariously found that someone had asked a question about the Amazon issue, which someone else had answered by saying, “This is what Google AI said,” and proceeded to share the information from my article. The question-asker then said they’d need a more trustworthy source.

My first AI regurgitation! In the wild! Before my very eyes! I was somehow both offended and flattered. And laughed out loud at the absurdity of the asker needing a trustworthy source when the very localized, very accurate (written by a human person who went right to the primary sources about an issue that affects our community directly) newspaper article was undoubtedly the first result under that AI offering.

Someone else commented on the post that an agreement had since been made, and Amazon was allowed to be there. I was surprised to hear that and kept reading. On a different post about the same thing, I saw the information – that there’s an agreement now – was shared again and again.

Intrigued now, I asked one commenter about the source of this information. “A comment on a different post,” was the response. Ah. I see. Time to dig in.

I needed to write an update on the article anyway and was curious about this new agreement. So, I picked up the phone and called everyone. Truly, everyone involved.

I called (OK, OK, I texted some of them – I am a millennial, after all) the media relations guy at Amazon, the deputy executive director of the Washington State Ferries, the owner of Seattle Final Mile, the VP of Aeronautical services, the Town of Friday Harbor and the Port commissioner. I found out that there was, in fact, no new agreement, although Amazon is in talks with the Port about a possible month-to-month lease in the future.

Then I wrote an updated article with all of that information and direct quotes from the players involved.

And it made me realize something about small-town news.

This island is a Facebooking island. If you aren’t on Facebook here, it’s hard to know what’s going on in the community. I know this. I run a community group, and the people who aren’t on Facebook really struggle with keeping tabs on everything. It’s a thing. It’s a part of living here.

I, myself, have taken a lot of what I read on Facebook as accurate, especially when I see it multiple times. I too, would have believed there was another agreement with Amazon and WSF because I read it in multiple places. It was only in my fact-checking for my job that I realized that wasn’t correct.

Would I have done that about something that wasn’t actively for my work? No, truthfully, I wouldn’t. When I’m scrolling, I see hundreds of things in one sitting. I’m not about to fact-check or contact primary sources for every single post. Maybe I would do it for things that impact my kids, or something I feel strongly about. But for most of the things I read? Especially around what’s happening in the community? I passively read things, not even realizing I’m accepting the truthfulness of unverified information as it implants itself in my not-fully-conscious scrolling brain.

Journalism matters. Having it be someone’s job to contact primary sources and find out what’s really going on matters. Having a reliable source of information that will absolutely be called out if a correction is needed, matters, especially in a small community.

Rumors mutate as quickly as they travel. One bit of truth takes on 10 bits of conjecture, intentional or not, and then rolls in 100 bits of opinions. These ideas that take root in our minds from these sources of information are what dictate our views, our votes, our policies.

A different community Facebook page recently bemoaned the price of the Journal in one form or another. The truth is, it does cost money to report the news. Someone taking the time to stop and ask primary sources what’s going on costs money. Inches in the paper costs money. Hosting articles online costs money. Ink, design, editing, and distribution all cost money.

Please continue to support small-town newspapers and the invaluable service they provide to our communities.

Rumors are free. But they will absolutely cost you.