State lawmakers, county commissioners, school board members, city councilmen, members of public authorities and commissions can be good people and still be wrong. They could even be bad people who happen to be right on a particular issue. 

The same goes for U.S. senators, representatives or even a President. 

Being right or wrong doesn’t necessarily make a person good or bad. 

Sometimes you just have to separate the person from the policy and the policy from the person. 

It is possible to support a policy, measure or bill carried by a lawmaker but not be supportive of everything that lawmaker says or does. 

It is also possible to have a personal affinity for, or good relationship with, someone in public office but strongly disagree with a position that person takes on a particular issue or piece of legislation. 

Especially, as journalists, sometimes it is necessary to publish an unflattering report that government officials may not like, but that does not mean the journalist does not like the officials. 

Sometimes an editorial calls into question the action or inaction of our elected representatives but once again that does not mean there is any personal animus, anger or ill feelings. 

Actually, it is possible to have the very highest regard for a man or woman in elected office and still provide coverage that can be less than flattering or commentary that calls that person or the agency into question. 

To allow personal relationships, good or bad, to sway news coverage or shape commentary is less than honest and damages editorial integrity. 

If a reporter, editor or news outlet has such a bias that an elected official can either do no wrong or do no right, then the reporter, editor or news outlet is compromised and not serving the public well. 

While completely unbiased reporting is just not possible — we are all human and bring biases to everything we do — fair reporting is essential. 

So, let’s stipulate that good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. 

With all that said, it still should be pointed out that character, decency, morality and ethics matter. 

Just because bad people may, occasionally, do very good things, it does not mean that it is OK that they are bad people. 

And when bad people do a good thing, it doesn’t make the thing they do bad. 

When good people do bad things, it doesn’t mean they are suddenly bad people. It just means what they did was bad. 

Applying these principles can make journalists better at their jobs, better reporters and editors and more trusted as news sources. 

Applying these principles in life just makes us all better people.