Information is always a good thing

Together we can make new newspaper a success

By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Blog Editor
Mogollon Connection Columnist

(Editor's note: The following "Off the Rim" appeared in last week's inaugural edition of the Mogollon Connection.)

Welcome to the inaugural Rim Country edition of the Mogollon Connection, a newspaper that has grown to serve a number of Northern Arizona communities along the Arizona 260-277 corridor.

This newspaper seeks to provide an alternative, and that’s a good thing. Even if the advertising dollars get spread a little thinner, that’s a small price to pay for another voice.

Democracy demands an informed citizenry – voters who can make intelligent choices. To do that they need information. Information from more than one source. As I have said way too many times, information is our friend.

Just as our government is built on a system of checks and balances, so should our media embody such a system. Because we are human and therefore corruptible, we need to help each other stay focused on truth and accuracy. We welcome the scrutiny of our fellow journalists, and hope they welcome ours as well.

You will recognize some familiar names associated with this venture, journalists who, we hope, are known for our commitment to honest and fair reporting and a to a diversity of opinions. At least that’s what we strive to achieve.

We have come together to offer not another newspaper, but a genuine alternative – a publication that provides our readers with a fair and balanced look at the issues that matter most to you, issues that impact the quality of life you live here to enjoy.

And to tell the stories that define who we are as a community, a people. The stories that reflect what we believe in and what we value. Like many of you, we are much less interested in the stories about acts committed by a small minority – acts that reflect poorly on our community.

Here is our team:

Matt Brabb is a young man I have come to know well through working together with him on the Rim Country Gazette. Matt has a keen political mind and, an intuitive sense of fairness, and, most important for a journalist, a burning need to go where a story leads him no matter who or what gets in his way. He, more than anyone I know, embodies the principles that I try to stand for.

Matt’s wife, Mitzi, is a consummate story teller – a lady who, like Matt, brings the highest standards to the task at hand – creating a newspaper you can count on to tell it exactly like it is, but always with her special human touch.

The third member of the news team is Carolyn Wall, another ex-Gazeteer. You all know Carolyn because she’s been a journalist in this town longer than me – and my Jimmy Olson days are long gone.

The Gazette was also blessed with some excellent columnists and most of them have agreed to write for the Connection as well. That would include a trio of respected veteran journalists I consider good friends – Noble Collins, Leilah Breitler, and Mary Williams.

In my years of working with them, I can honestly tell you that if they say it’s so, you can take it to the bank. And if they express a belief, it is at least worthy of your consideration.

Jenny Caster, also late of the Gazette, will manage our new office at 1001 S. Beeline Highway, Suite D. For many of you, she will be the voice of the Connection.

And then there’s me. You all know, maybe too well, what I profess to stand for. I have agreed to write “Off the Rim” for the Connection, and to lend my support and expertise anywhere else it might be needed.

There’s one other person I would like to talk about – Publisher Maxine Helmerl. When asked why she is bringing the Connection to the Rim Country, she likes to say, “Because I’m crazy.”

While it does take a certain degree of that commodity to be in the newspaper business in these economic times, we’ve also seen a certain fearlessness, feistiness, a business savvy, and a commitment to the same principles that brought the rest of us to the table. We think you’re going to like Maxine and what she adds to the Rim Country.

In the issues ahead, we want to tell your stories. We want to convey what’s important to you. To those ends, we want to hear from you. The office number is 928-468-6701. Or e-mail us at payson@mogollonconnection.com.

Let us know what matters to you. What you like and what you don’t like. Your views on the issues that impact us all.

Most of all, we need your support. Together, we can make this happen.