to be media friendly if they wanted to be sure that the truth was always told.

Mr. Zuill, who has edited the newspaper since 1998, but started as a summer student at the age of 17, said too often people refused to return calls or answer questions put by reporters, which meant only one side of a story could be published.

Addressing members of the Rotary Club of Hamilton, he said the role of any newspaper was to give people the information they needed to make good decisions about their lives.

But he said it was important that reporters did not make those decisions for the readers, because they were smart enough to make their own minds up.

He said because The Royal Gazette was the sole daily newspaper in Bermuda, with a daily circulation of 16,500 and a market penetration of 80 percent of adults, it had special responsibilities and challenges.

One of the biggest responsibilities, however, he said was to ensure that the newspaper met the public's expectations in making its content as fair and accurate as possible.

"Journalists meet daily deadlines and have a responsibility to ensure their readers get information in a timely manner,'' said Mr. Zuill.

"That will sometimes mean that a story cannot wait for a person to call back, although I think the media in Bermuda is extraordinarily patient and works hard to achieve balance in stories.

"Nonetheless, there comes a time when you have to decide whether to publish or give up on a story. That decision will be made based on the reliability of the source of the story, its importance to the community and whether the story itself seems to be accurate.

"Some of you may say `if you can't get the other side of the story, then you just should not publish'. The danger there is that it would be easy for a person to prevent publication of stories by simply not responding.

"That would not serve the public any better than consistently printing one-sided stories.'' Mr. Zuill said The Royal Gazette made every effort to be accurate at all times, although human error meant that sometimes mistakes occurred.

"What is important is that we correct our errors, and we are always prepared to give both sides a say,'' he added Sometimes, he said, journalists had to report the facts as they could best be determined at the time, but said it was vital that reporters were able to investigate issues of public concern, no matter who criticised them.

He added: "People will often say one thing to a journalist, have it accurately reported and then decide they don't like what they see in the paper.

"An American baseball player once said of the Press `they reported what I said, not what I meant'.

"We are not mind readers, nor should the media serve its sources -- it has a responsibility to only one person -- the reader.'' Hamilton Rotary vice president WA (Toppy) Cowen described Mr. Zuill as more passive than his predecessor David White when writing the newspaper's editorials.

The Editor responded: "What I try to do is put both sides of an argument. I see everything as grey, rather than black and white.

"I put both sides and then I try to come to a conclusion.'' Mr. Cowen also brought up the newspaper's Hester column, saying some people loved it and others loathed it.

Mr. Zuill said: "Hester is supposed to be light and funny. It is the things that people have said or done that are amusing.'' He said it was not there to have a go at people.

"We need to be very accurate and apply the same standards on Hester as we do on reporting. Hearing a bit of gossip and putting it there is not good,'' he said.

Former president of the club, Kirk Kitson, said he felt the newspaper put too much bad news, especially crime, on the front page, which left a bad impression on tourists and people thinking of setting up business on the Island.

The Editor said he had faced challenges with regard to this, especially where the Internet was concerned as only so many stories were copied to the Web.

Mr. Zuill said he had made a concerted effort to put a mix of good and bad news on the front page, but said he had to weigh up how important the stories were to the community.