Chronicle Editorial

Help us help you
     Everyone has their criticisms of the media. As journalists ourselves, no one has more criticisms towards the industry than we do. It gets under our skin when we watch moderators and reporters leave comments go unchecked; it drives us absolutely crazy when we see cat videos and celebrities, and ‘he said, she said’ stories dominate the screens.
     There’s a misconception out there that the media is this umbrella network that everyone who works for a communications department, carries a membership card to. And there’s meetings where everyone decides the agenda of what to cover and who to defame and insult, and which direction everyone should direct their attention to.
     No such place exists. We wish there was; it would make the jobs of being editors that much easier, having someone else give us pre-packaged materials and where to go to next. It’s just not true.
     The media gets a bad reputation, and it’s deserved in most cases. There’s coverage lapses, there’s inherent bias in all reporting, there’s walking the line of offending someone or groups and there’s ineptitude in doing the job of committing a whole town to paper.
     We signed up for this; we will take the blame.
     But not all media is bad. No one in journalism sets out to be bad at it; but intents and circumstances some times are construed with money and abilities.
     Help us help you.
     We newspapers don’t have a crystal ball that tell us everything that’s happening at one time. What makes the job of editor so challenging, is try to have an ear everywhere at once, in Franklin County.
     We are pretty well staffed, but it’s almost next to impossible to be everywhere at once, while trying to write stories and get pictures, and cold calling to look for any information.
     Our job is to inform you. Our job is to chronicle your life in paper; to give you the best information about your neighborhood as possible. But we can’t be everywhere, no matter how much we wish. If we could be everywhere, we would love it.
     This week, we reported on an advisory meeting for the CAL school district, at which, many issues about how state education parameters don’t mix with city expectations and abilities. Those in attendance looked at each other, wondering how to let people know, while also wondering why they didn’t hear about these parameters and conditions themselves. They openly asked for some thing to post this vital information.
     We at the Chronicle stand before you, with open pages. Help us help you. There’s no such thing as a bad story. A story is a story. A newspaper’s job is to publish stories that are important to the community.
     Give us a chance to help you. We may have messed up, but we are trying to do the best we can by being responsible journalists, and give you the information you need to live a great life in Franklin County.
     Call our office: (641)456-2585 ext. 131. Email us: chroniclenews@midamericapub.com. School story? Council story? Police story? Have a question? Hear a rumor? Let us know. It’s not a bother, it’s holding us accountable, and we welcome it.