Weekly small- and medium-town newspapers are different than big dailies. We’re much more a part of the community. Our employees live here, work here, go to schools, to events, to meetings here.
Reporters on weekly newspapers always walk a very fine line. They have to write stories that are downright hard.
That came to pass this week, as fact after fact about the Kyle Fire Department came to light.
What does a reporter do when something like this happens? Turn a blind eye? Not print the truth?
It is not an easy thing. Reporters don’t relish these kind of stories – especially when the very person they are covering is someone they have joked with, eaten lunch with, or just gotten to know on a personal level.
These people are our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends. They are people we trusted.
Some cynics accuse reporters and members of this newspaper of actually enjoying these stories. That is certainly not the case. It is hard beyond reason.
Yet, we know that data and statistics show us that these kind of stories sell more newspapers.
But is that because of the salaciousness, or is it because taxpayers – residents – really want to know what is going on?
What’s fair and just? That’s the question that we asked ourselves this week. How far does a public’s right to know extend?
It extends deep within the department – despite how uncomfortable it makes our employees to report these facts. When tax dollars are involved or when a department that is involved in the general public safety of this town is involved, it matters.
A lot.
It matters because all of us are paying the bills. We would bear the brunt of any lawsuit brought against the department for wrongdoing. It matters because we depend on this department in emergencies.
It matters because they – those employees – are a part of us. They represent us. They are the face of this community, in many ways.
No, these stories are not fun to write. They cause anguish on the staff, just as they cause anguish for those who are a part of the story.
But they are necessary stories because we all need to know – we demand to know – what is happening to our own community.
We can feel sorry for those involved. We can all question why – why? – did a person who we so liked do something so wrong.
But, in the end, the story will come out and it is better to have the whole truth and not just the rumors that swirl around town.
Fair and just. That’s the measure we stand by.
