Gazette Blog: What we are striving to be

Had an e-mail from an anonymous reader who took offense at our criticizing the local newspaper for its recent front page story about a high school groping incident that happened two years ago.

If you read it, we won’t go into the details. If you didn’t read it, we still won’t go into the details. We just don’t think it deserves any coverage.

This reader (or former reader, as he or she does not intend to read the blog anymore) said we need to drop the vendetta in favor of some positive articles about things to do in the Rim Country that would attract new residents and more tourists.

While I understand that some people think my criticism of the local newspaper is simply sour grapes, let me say that journalism is, for me, a passion, and I do not tolerate it being badly practiced – by anyone.

When I was associated with the Mogollon Connection, a rival of the Roundup, I argued profusely and relentlessly against its coverage of a case where a prominent local citizen was accused (but not convicted) of having child pornography on his computer. Former Connection editor Matt Brabb will be only too happy to confirm this story.

When I was editor and publisher of the Rim Country Gazette, I refused to cover petty crime stories and traffic accidents, or to run regular police and court reports. Our focus was on the arts, culture, heritage and a healthy dose of politics.

I just don’t believe that the negative things that a small minority of people in our community perpetrate are worthy of publicizing and glorifying with undue coverage – even if people “like to read that stuff.” (And, of course, we never ran pictures of dead elk shot as a first act of “manhood” by 13 year olds.)

Going back to when I was a reporter with the Roundup, I requested the beats that would allow me to write about the kind of stuff I felt showed our community at its best – including the arts and education. I took over the Rim Review when nobody else wanted it because I thought it could become the Rim Country’s showcase for the arts. I never got the chance to fulfill that promise, and it subsequently returned to mediocrity.

But while I believe we need to emphasize the good things that good people do, I am not a “homer.” I do not believe in our community right or wrong, and I do not believe we need to stay here and spend every last dime to support the economy. Small towns have their positives and their negatives, and among the negatives are a lack of quality shopping and a dearth of things to do – not the least of which is good movies to watch. When is the last time you saw a foreign film playing at the Sawmill?

One of the reasons most of us are here is because we are within striking distance of a major metropolitan area. So the blog encourages people to get out of Dodge and enjoy what the Valley and the rest of the state have to offer. To that end, we let you know about things that are going on around the state and what freeway closures and other issues you can expect. It’s not unpatriotic. It’s simply a reflection of the reality that most of us prefer not to shop at Wal-Mart.

The blog will also not be a shill for the Town of Payson. If something worthwhile is happening, like the monthly jazz concerts, we’re all over it. And we just did a nice color piece on the major upcoming summer events like the car show and the spring rodeo. But we much prefer to be discriminating in what we choose to promote. We still like the arts. And being animal lovers, we just can’t get real excited about rodeos. We’re kind of glad we can be independent when it comes to things like that. In fact, if somebody feels moved to bash the sport of rodeo during August Doin’s, we’re likely to let them – even if it makes Cameron Davis and John Stanton (the tourism and chamber dudes) apoplectic.

And yes, there is a bit of irreverence in who we are. Because we think sometimes small town officials take themselves way too seriously. And somebody needs to try and keep them honest (although they pretty much do what they want anyway). Besides, since we’re not doing this for the money, we think we deserve to have a little fun.

More important, we see ourselves (perhaps a bit pretentiously) as the provider of the ”big world view.” Which, of course, makes some think we lean a little to the left. And we probably do. We just really believe, as Gazette columnist Noble Collins recently put it so well, that all men really are equal, and that while there is sometimes bad, there is also good in just about everything and everybody.

We also see ourselves as a place where alternative voices can be heard. Where somebody can say that rodeos are cruel and inhumane, or that not all Muslims are bad people, or that maybe it's not real smart to put guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t even be driving cars.

Most important, we like to think we are a place that still stands for fairness and truth and quality journalism. We realize that fairness and truth are fairly subjective, and that our version may not necessarily be yours. But the rules and especially the ethics of journalism are not subjective, and appealing to the prurient or placing a story just to sell newspapers cuts to the very core of our reactors. Which kind of brings us full circle from where this all started.

Most blogs are niches. We think we are as inclusive as any, representing the openminded and worldly and maybe, dare we say, the thinking people of the Rim Country and beyond.

But we are not for everyone, and from time to time somebody will tell us they are not going to read our blog anymore. That’s OK.

We are who we are.