I WISH to commend The Press for its article on fake news and to endorse the position it takes on checking facts before printing news stories.

People around the world are drowning in fake news stories, on the front pages of newspapers, on media channels, and exchanged on social media sites.

Facts and truth have become totally interchangeable for many.

As a city councillor for eight years I had innumerable dealings with The Press.

Local politicians of all parties were and are often all too ready to accuse The Press of being biased against them. In my experience, they were wrong.

The reporters always required evidence that substantiated a press release and conducted a personal interview.

And when I was obliged to turn whistleblower on something bad that was happening, they took seriously the need for confidentiality.

Is The Press perfect? No, nothing ever is, but readers should be pleased that their local newspaper is determined to take seriously its responsibilities to us all.

At a time where we are all being encouraged to hate or blame other people for the complexities of the world, a free and responsible press is vital to our security and our democracy.

Christian Vassie, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York