Is our paper in danger?

When the Watchdog Becomes the Lapdog

Our local paper, The Payson Roundup, has long been one of the few defenses against the flood of MAGA extremism in our town. Three of its writers still stand firm, calling out the dangers of Trump’s politics and the damage he’s done to truth itself.

But here’s the problem: an assistant editor—someone with real influence over what the community reads—has been caught deep in the Trump fantasy web. And when confronted, his defense was chilling. He compared Trump to a plumber: “I don’t care about his politics as long as he fixes the leak.”

This isn’t harmless indifference. It’s a dangerous moral collapse. It’s the same logic that’s been used to justify the rise of tyrants throughout history—overlooking corruption, sexual abuse, lies, and felonies simply because the leader “gets things done.” That’s how democracies rot from the inside.

When the gatekeeper of a community’s information starts excusing criminal behavior in a leader, the paper stops being a watchdog and starts becoming a lapdog. And once the press lowers its moral standards, the community soon follows.

The moment we normalize “the ends justify the means,” we’ve already surrendered the soul of our democracy.

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