He said, she said, according to, she added, the press release stated, the town manager responded via email, in minutes posted at westportisland.us, in documents Wiscasset Newspaper received upon request, in the superintendent’s letter to families, in a phone interview ... All are ways we show where or from whom we got the information we report to you each day online and each week in our print edition.

Attribution is one of the best things we have over the information non-industry news outlets post on social media after a car crash, a missing person, a fire, or a local political development.

As speakers observed Aug. 21 on the final edition of CNN’s canceled show “Reliable Sources,” social media makes everyone a reporter. And little travels faster than a Facebook or other post from someone who saw, heard, or heard about a crash and maybe shared a photo or video, also. Immediacy has high value; as news consumers, we all want to know as much as possible, as soon as possible. And it isn’t being prurient; some posts can help us avoid a route that is down to one lane, or explain why our power went out.

But for anything more, please when you are reporting and consuming news on social media, take care with the facts, like not saying it was a fatal crash or fire, if you only heard it was. Maybe it wasn’t – and people who recognize the car or home in the photo will have been needlessly traumatized. And when you take the photos or videos, please try to avoid posting any that show a body: Because the event and the post are mainly local, the victim was someone’s loved one, friend, co-worker, or classmate.

Political and other news is high interest, in part because it is new. So sharing it with people you know and don’t know on social media may be exciting, helpful, or both. And if you go about it responsibly, you will avoid wrong information or details, rumors or otherwise, that go out before they are verified. That is one good thing about getting information from the authorities. It may take a little time, but doing things right can take time.

This brings us back to attribution. If you skip it, those seeing the post may or may not consider the chance that the information is wrong or partly wrong. But if you include the attribution, or source, you are respecting the reader’s interest in knowing the source, and you are respecting their ability to decide for themselves if that source is a good one for that information.

Week’s positive parting thought: Wiscasset nautical buffs have had a banner week as you can see on this week’s pages. Schoonerfest’s success, the new augmented reality image of Hesper and Luther Little and the prospect of the Virginia wintering on the waterfront are something to celebrate.