Every Wednesday around 3 p.m., a sigh of relief and a much-needed sense of calm permeates the building. Another edition of the Enterprise-Tocsin has been sent to press. You can put it in the books! Moments of tranquility like these are fleeting, because within the next hour, I want to be the first one to go look at the first few copies off the press. What did we miss? What did we overlook? What did we absolutely excel at covering this week? Once all those questions are answered, the thought process slightly shifts to the next issue. But Thursday is coming! There will be calls from readers about disagreements over what was reported, things being left out of the publication, and of course accolades for something well done. So, what do these emotional ups and downs of producing a newspaper teach me? Stay even keeled. Don’t get too high or too low. Don’t make emotional decisions. Evaluate and reevaluate your approach to covering the area to improve the process. Develop thick skin. Operate fully in the decisions that have been made. Be able to explain your decisions. Take responsibility and accountability. Apologize when you’re wrong. Move forward. Be fair and balanced.
As to the last point, ongoing reporting about the activities and official conduct in offices of elected officials and others requires a professional relationship with guardrails and boundaries. Every editor/publisher should find their passion, niche and space to involve themselves in the community they cover. However, getting too close and too involved with the people the newspaper regularly covers welcomes bias, blinders and blunders.
Some people in the community probably think that they have a better idea of what we could include each week or things we just miss. But it is my profound approach to gathering information to tie everything that I print to some credible resource, person or source. The latest social media rumor, anonymous tips, and community rumor mill fodder will be properly vetted and reviewed – not to fulfill some agenda, but to provide credible information in the public interest.
This introspective minutia seems like a lot to deal with but it’s because I love and fully embrace what I do. What a privilege it is to be the newspaper of record for the county. And my mission is to be just that – for the county. People in the northern coverage area, I have heard your cries loud and clear about committing more time to spotlighting the great things taking place up there. As the Apostle Paul quipped, “I press on to the mark of the high calling.” Throughout this journey week in and week out, the Enterprise-Tocsin moves toward an unattainable mark of perfection. But we have been called for a perfect mission. This is to serve our readers with information that is credible, truthful, useful, fair and balanced. Keep the anonymous tips, praise, criticism and input coming. Without all the above, this publication will never reach its full capacity to serve the citizens of Sunflower County.
