Gov. Paul LePage’s assertion that 7,600 Mainers fought for the Confederacy is another example of his willingness to create fake news and to mislead the people of Maine. The Sun Journal printed an excellent front page article on the subject (Aug. 23), the crux of which was that LePage presented no evidence for his statements and that he got the facts terribly wrong.

I hope everyone read the entire article because, unfortunately, the headline did not summarize the substance of the article accurately. In fact, the headline, “It was a property rights issue as it began; LePage says thousands of Mainers fought for Confederacy” might be taken to indicate that LePage’s statements were correct.

I understand that a newspaper must try to be balanced in its presentation of the news. But, in this instance, I think the Sun Journal went overboard in trying to be fair to LePage. In my opinion, the headline should have read “LePage presents no evidence to support statement on Mainers fighting for Confederacy.”

I am sympathetic to the Sun Journal’s position. If the Sun Journal had used my headline, it almost certainly would have suffered a tongue lashing from the governor. But I think the newspaper needs to tell it like it is.

Ben Lounsbury, Auburn