Behind-the-scenes look surprises

The Union-Recorder

April 18, 2008 10:39 pm

— Usually, the editorial “we” in this column is editor Ken Eysaman, though he gives five of us a chance to change his mind. Today, however, we’re on our own while Ken visits Washington, D.C.’s newest museum, the Newseum. No joke. It’s about the history of newspapers and media.
In his absence, we have decided to use this space to commend our community and also The Union-Recorder. Communities need newspapers with integrity. Being on the inside only for a short time, we already have ample evidence that The Union-Recorder has integrity. The news pages give us stories we as citizens need, placed so we can easily find them. Advertising and circulation revenues do not influence editorial positions, only what is perceived to be good for our community. If the newspaper makes a factual error, it prints a correction.
We meet to talk about the role of newspapers. Should they endorse candidates? How do they decide which letters to the editor to print? Where do they get their information, and how do they fact-check it?
We meet to talk about our community. What are the burning issues for us? Racism? Land use? Crime? Education? Poverty? Recycling? Town and gown?
For those of us who are new, Middle Georgia bears acquaintance. The more one knows, the more one admires — even though we came here with very positive perceptions. Community roots spread like the tree roots that have cracked our sidewalks. The strength of our people is as durable as our wisteria. People are good enough to let the academics into their lives even knowing that some folks who come to the college will move on. It’s the nature of the business. When people come and stay, we are even richer. Taking a chance on outsiders is worth the risk.
Our long-term community members give this place a distinctive spirit of generosity and caring. A back-door neighbor, healing from a cracked hip, will be quite capable of getting to City Hall; a so-called old-timer who can repair our typewriters and lift our spirits will be back at the post office. We can count on their voices. A landlord means it when he says to call him any time of the day or night. Next-door neighbors, the only owners on the block on either side of the street, keep on keeping on despite student beer pong and a part-pit-bull-looking dog that doesn’t know it belongs to a renter.
Earlier this month, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities was in town to visit Andalusia, a place he was intensely interested in helping preserve. As a first-time visitor to Milledgeville, he marveled that Andalusia had property around it, including the pond, and said he wanted to return, being sure to stop at Sacred Heart Catholic Church the next time he was in town. Yes, we bear acquaintance.
As community members of the editorial board, we are privy to conversations and decisions that most would never have thought actually took place. The newspapers either delivered or purchased off the racks around town represent the daily challenge of many hands and brains. The integrity of this publication relies on many decisions that often might send those in charge down a path of resistance and hardship; in the end however, this is the more noble path.
As always, there is more to a story than appears in these pages. Individual lives are affected, positively and negatively, and when a story breaks, those who report it give their utmost professionalism to make certain that facts are facts. The purpose of news is to better your life. Tragic or triumphant, what appears in the pages of this newspaper serves to better the residents of Milledgeville, Baldwin County and the surrounding area.