Commentators must respect facts

News commentaries play a vital role in spurring social progress, but they can also have a negative impact on public opinion if they compromise the basic principle of respecting facts, says an article in China Youth Daily. Excerpts:

If reporting means presenting news, commentaries mean expressing opinions on news. Commentators have to base their contention on facts and avoid supposition. By their very nature, commentaries should follow news, instead of getting ahead of it. Thus opinions should be based on the available facts.