Journalists need to be at the coalface to get the correct news.
By Heather Carston Editor
IT is unusual for a newspaper editor to look at what other publishers are doing and have a public opinion on it. The doings I’m looking at relate to a decision by a large company to downsize its editorial teams, assemble regional ones and in the doing so, lay off a few staff here and there. Our own newsroom, with more than 140 collective years in the business, was aghast on our colleagues’ behalf. There are some immutables when it comes to news, some of which I’ve mentioned before. Getting the facts from the horse’s mouth is paramount. To do that, you need to be there on the ground, with a direct line to those who have the knowledge. Facts matter. Yes, we sometimes get things wrong, or people can take things the wrong way. Or forget what they said. But that is why we have recording devices we use when we do interviews. Or watch livestreamed meetings. The one thing, however, any journalist worth their salt protects above all else, is their contact list. The people whom they have met, developed relationships with, who know when they are told “that’s off the record”, that will be totally respected. And those relationships are created by face-to-face interaction. Not on the phone, not by email. By attending meetings, community events, having the odd drink here and there at a social function. It is lazy journalism to be behind a desk and on the phone instead of out there in the community. People who know who you are because you have put yourself out there, will come up to you on the street, at a function or party and start chatting, or give you news tips. And as a journalist, it isn’t long before that networking allows you to connect dots, to know whom to contact, who will give you the facts and the balance you need. To craft the stories that must be told. As the only community newspaper that covers all boundaries of the King Country, we know our readers look to us for the right news. And in today’s troubled times, we have certainly looked to ensure all avenues are taken up to make sure we do. Like any other community newspaper, the King Country News is its communities’ conscience. Something that helps shape necessary change by exposing realities, or highlighting opportunities just as much as it highights the good and fun times. The one thing that should never happen, however, is to remove journalists from the coalface. From the very communities who rely on them to tell them what is happening to, for, against, or with them. That way lies the death of the fourth estate. And the subsequent silencing of any community. We are not mainstream media. And I have to say after this past week… how very glad I, and my team, are of that.
