Is it possible to care too much?
ON MY SOAPBOX
BY JASON HENNINGTON
This column represents the thoughts and opinions of Jason Hennington. This is NOT the opinion of the Taylor Press.
Sometimes in our business, it seems like we don’t care, such as when we have to write a story about someone’s child or family member being arrested, sentenced to jail time or worse.
I’ve made mention of taking phone calls from disgruntled parents or spouses, in some cases the actual defendant, where I am yelled at or called everything but my name. In those same situations, I have to explain the aspect of my job and that it’s nothing personal. That usually falls on deaf ears.
It’s not that I don’t care, it just comes with the territory.
Sometimes, I wonder if we care too much, or if that is even a real thing.
To what extent can we show that we care enough? Is it being at every single event hosted by an organization or group? Is it being on the sideline of every game – home and away? Or, is it simply making sure we get names, events or photos in the paper?
In the fall, we hold the weekend edition to make sure we have Friday night football scores. We’re the only paper in the area to have those scores in print on Saturday. We also hold the paper for homecoming crownings.
If there is breaking news, we usually stay on the scene and make sure we get all the information to provide the most upto- date story that we can. That may include details about a death or a crime and involve names. That doesn’t mean we don’t care, it means we care enough to alert people to what is happening in their community.
In the last month, I have received at least two emails, two phone calls and social media comments that begin with, “The Taylor Press doesn’t care about,” then proceeds to include a topic specific to that person. Whether it was a cultural event, a local get-together, sports or entertainment, the person truly believed that because we didn’t have a presence, we didn’t care to cover it.
Readers are encouraged to send us photos and information about their event and we do our best to get it in the paper. That is sometimes construed as not doing our job, but it shows we care to get that event in the paper.
With a small staff, it’s impossible to be everywhere. We try to get to everything we can. We also ask for support from the community to keep us up to date on events.
As a journalist, I have dealt with feedback, backlash and criticism on almost a daily basis. I know that everything we do is not going to please everybody. That’s not my goal.
My job is to provide accurate information, but also to get names and faces in the newspaper, not just in the obituary section.
In order to do this job correctly, there are certain lengths we have to go to whether we want to or not. They are the boundaries we go beyond on a daily basis that show how much we care for our product and our community. In many cases, those boundaries go further than the cares of criticism.
Journalists are not in this business for the money, they are in it for the love of the business. You can’t love something you don’t care about.
I’m going to get off my soapbox now, but before I do, I want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. We all have something to be thankful for. Remind yourself of that.
“Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.” — Anthony J. D’Angelo
