These are the best of times and the worst of times for opinion writers. On one hand, President Trump and his people flood the zone with mischief, disinformation and scandals. We are blessed (or cursed) with a topic-rich environment.

On the other hand, we are professionally obligated to remain immersed in Trump’s tireless conspiracy against truth, justice and the American way. It can be dispiriting, even soul-crushing, for commentators. It’s undoubtedly tedious for readers, and it can be damaging to the news media’s reputation.

A previous White House felon, Spiro Agnew, called reporters “nattering nabobs of negativism.” Trump lacks Agnew’s talent for alliteration — he simply calls us “fake.” Yet we must persist.

Trump has made it impossible for the American people today to trust their government. It’s unfortunate — hardworking Americans pay more than $2 trillion in taxes each year to support the government. We should be able to trust that it’s spending the money responsibly, protecting our privacy and rights, producing accurate information to guide public affairs. That’s not happening.

The government provides critical data on a wide range of topics, important to weather forecasting, commodity markets, retirement accounts, public health, agriculture, natural resource management, education quality and much more.

Data and its integrity matter. Just as air traffic controllers rely on accurate radar, good government relies on accurate data. However, Trump’s decision this month to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics sent a message to the federal government’s 2,000 agencies and 2.3 million civil servants that they must report what Trump wants to hear rather than what the public needs to know.

According to NBC News, “Across the federal government, President Donald Trump has been wielding his influence over data used by researchers, economists, and........

© The Hill