This column represents the thoughts and opinions of Jason Hennington. This is NOT the opinion of the Taylor Press.
Full disclosure: at Tuesday night’s Lady Ducks’ basketball game, I tucked away my press pass and watched the game as a fan. I cheered, I encouraged them and I celebrated the win with the crowd. As a reporter, I typically do not do that. Not only because I need to stay neutral when reporting, but because it is frowned upon in our industry.
Aside from that situation, as a reporter, I do not choose sides. That’s not my job. My job is to obtain the information, write the story and let readers decide what they think.
Do I have opinions? Yes, of course, and I have that right. However, I make sure I do not make my opinions known in my writing. You may get a little taste of it here while I’m on my soapbox, but not any other place.
There are often controversial situations in the community and we cover them. I am covering and following one specifically. I listen to both sides and gather information for the story. Not everyone likes that I talk to both sides, but that’s part of my job. I receive phone calls, text messages, emails and more on a daily basis. I read it and consider all of them.
At the same time, I have to analyze and process it all and determine the baseline of the story. An example is the situation involving Emergency Services District No. 10 and the Avery-Pickett Volunteer Fire Department. There is a petition to have Avery-Pickett’s service area annexed and included in ESD No. 10. This would essentially eliminate Avery-Pickett’s department.
As I cover this story, I am listening to people who are for and against annexation. I don’t have a dog in the fight, so my only concern is getting the information out to people who will vote. This situation has become very personal on both sides, with strong opinions from various parties. While I am hearing not only the facts, I also hear all of the personal attacks and mudslinging. In the midst of it all, I have to decipher the accurate, pertinent information and put that in the story. I feel like we have done that well in the recent articles we have written.
This is just one small example, but we deal with this kind of thing on a regular basis. I support everyone in fighting for what you believe, but I do not get involved.
The recent controversy with the separate Christmas and inclusive holiday parades is another example. I have my thoughts and opinions about the way everything happened, but I never expressed that in my writing. We just covered what transpired. By the way, I’m sure that situation is not over, it’s just cooled down for now.
That situation also got very personal, but that was not relevant to the story, so we did not include it. Attacking someone personally because you have a different opinion is not OK. However, that is not a necessary angle to the story unless it becomes a public distraction – physical or illegal.
There are three sides to a story, your side and their side. It’s my job to find the third side – the truth.
I’m going to get off my soapbox now, but first I want to wish my wife Tynna a happy birthday.
“Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.” -Margaret Thatcher
